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NEW  YORK 


HISTORY 


NEW  YORK  CITY, 

EMBRACING 


AN  OUTLINE  SKETCH  OF  EVENTS  FROM  1609  TO  1830,  AND  A  FULL 
ACCOUNT  OF  ITS  DEVELOPMENT  FROM  1830  TO  1S84. 

BY 


BENSON  J.  LOSSING,  LUX, 

Al'THOR  OF 

"Pictorial  Field  Rook  of  the  Revolution,"  "  The  War  of 1812,"  and  "  The  Civil  War  in 
America  ;"   "Mount  Vernon  and  its  Associations       "Illustrated  History  of  the 
United  States  ;"  "  Cyclopedia  of  United  States  History  ;"  "  Our  Country  ;" 
"  Story  of  the  United  Stales  Navy,  for  Boys''  etc.,  etc. 

Pustrafcb  uiillj  Portraits,  Yicurs  of;  JParfes,  $mluiurtsf  tie, 

ENGRAVED    ON    STEEL    EXPRESSLY    FOR   THIS  WORK 

BY  GEORGE  E.  PERINE. 


VOLUME  r. 


NEW  YORK : 

THE  PERINE  ENGRAVING  AND  PUBLISHING  CO. 


m 

v4 


Copyright,  1S34,  by  Geo.  E.  Perine. 


All  Rights  Reserved. 


PREFACE. 


Tins  work  is  designed  to  be  an  outline  picture  of  life  in 
New  York  and  of  the  city's  material  progress  during  the  past 
sixty  years.  It  is  prefaced  by  a  brief  history  of  the  city  from 
the  date  of  its  foundation  until  1830,  when  the  impetus  which 
produced  its  most  marvellous  development  began  to  be  power- 
fully felt, 

No  attempt  has  been  made  by  the  author  to  give  details  of 
the  commerce,  finances,  mechanic  arts,  and  manufactures  of  the 
city,  for  the  scope  and  limits  of  the  work  would  not  permit.  A 
few  notices  of  particular  commercial,  manufacturing,  and  other 
establishments  have  been  given,  only  as  illustrations  of  the 
enormous  expansion  of  all  kinds  of  business  within  the  period 
of  a  quarter  of  a  century. 

The  work  is  essentially  a  social  history  of  the  city  of  New 
York.  It  contains  an  account  of  society  there  in  its  various 
aspects  of  home  life,  business  activities,  and  social  organizations, 
during  a  period  of  two  generations.  In  it  may  be  found  brief 
records  of  the  growth  of  the  city  in  area,  from  time  to  time : 
changes  in  its  architectural  features  ;  its  amusements ;  its  increase 
in  population,  commerce,  manufactures,  and  other  industries ; 
the  transformations  in  the  aspects  of  society  and  in  municipal 
affairs ;  its  judiciary,  educational  systems,  and  its  government ; 
its  politics  and  its  journalism ;  its  inventors  and  discoverers  ; 
the  disturbances  and  disasters  which  have  afflicted  it,  and  other 
events  which  have  made  it  famous ;  the  origin  and  work  of 
the  principal  educational,  religious,  scientific,  literary,  artistic, 
benevolent,  and  charitable  institutions  with  which  the  city 
abounds,  together  with  the  names  of  the  projectors,  corporators, 
and  present  officers  of  the  various  institutions. 

In  this  work  may  also  be  found  the  portraits  and  brief  bio 


iy 


PREFACE. 


graphical  sketches  of  nearly  one  hundred  citizens,  who  by  their 
enterprise,  intelligence,  and  character  have  materially  assisted  in 
the  promotion  of  the  prosperity  and  good  name  of  New  York, 
and  in  its  elevation  to  the  high  position  of  the  metropolis  of  the 
Western  Hemisphere.  They  are  the  portraits  of  men  whom 
their  fellow-citizens  delight  to  honor.  These  portraits  and  the 
materials  for  the  biographical  sketches  have  been  obtained  only 
through  the  earnest  solicitations  of  the  author. 

There  are  also  numerous  views  of  parks,  public  and  private 
buildings,  and  other  objects.  These,  like  the  portraits,  are  en- 
graved on  steel  in  the  best  manner,  expressly  for  the  work.  The 
backgrounds  of  all  the  plates  are  of  uniform  size,  causing  an 
unique  symmetry  in  the  illustrations,  particularly  noticeable. 
The  vignette  views  are  after  original  India-ink  drawings  by 
Mr.  J.  Lawrence  Giles.  The  illustrations  are  uniformly  distrib- 
uted through  the  work  at  equal  distances  apart,  for  the  sake  of 
regularity,  and  therefore  could  not,  as  a  rule,  be  inserted  where 
reference  is  made  to  them  in  the  text.  The  reader,  by  referring 
to  the  list  of  portraits  and  other  illustrations,  may  readily 
find  their  places  in  the  work  indicated ;  and  by  a  reference  to 
the  general  index  will  as  readily  find  the  relevant  biography  or 
description  sought. 

It  has  been  observed  that  the  scope  and  limits  of  this  work 
would  not  permit  minute  details ;  only  a  general  view  of  the 
topics  introduced.  This,  it  is  believed,  will  be  more  acceptable 
to  the  general  reader  than  a  narrative  overburdened  with  the 
dry  details  of  statistics,  methods,  and  technicalities.  The  pub- 
lisher has  projected  another  work,  in  which  will  be  given  a  full 
account  of  the  commerce,  finances,  mechanic  arts,  manufactures, 
and  other  industries,  statistical  and  technical,  in  the  city  of 
New  York  from  its  foundation  until  now.  That  work  will  be 
a  complement  to  this. 

The  author  gratefully  acknowledges  the  uniform  kindness  „ 
and  courtesy  of  the  managers  of  institutions  and  of  all  others 
who  have  cheerfully  aided  him  in  gathering  the  materials  for 
this  work,  and  to  these  he  tenders  his  sincere  thanks. 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


STEEL  F 

Adams,  Alyin.   -facing  page  262 

Appleton,  Daniel    226 

Astob,  John  Jacob   30 

Barker,  Fordyce   600 

Barnard,  F.  A.  P   170 

Bates,  Levi  M   342 

Beach,  Moses  Y   634 

Beroh,  Henry   280 

Blackford,  Eugene  G  572 

Bliss,  Cornelius  N   618 

Brown,  James   90 

Brewster,  James  B    556 

Bruce,  George   860 

Cesnola,  L.  P.  di  852 

Clinton,  De  Witt   6 

('lark,  Emmons   678 

Colton,  G.  Q   ..  738 

Cooper,  Peter   116 

Crolius,  Sr.,  Clarkson   816 

Crosby,  Howard  298 

CUMMTNGS,   THOS.   S   216 

Daiy,  Charles  P   468 

Davis,  Noah   316 

De  Witt,  Thomas   438 

De  Peyster,  Frederic   74 

Dodge,  William  E   108 

Dun,  R.  G   608 

Durand,  A.  B   198 

Eckert,  Thomas  T   688 

Faber,  Eberhard   786 

Field,  Benjamin  H   476 

Field,  Cyrus  W   236 

Fish,  Hamilton   82 

Francis,  John  W   38 

Fred  ricks,  C.  D   754 

Gerry,  Elbrtdge  T   536 

Grace,  William  R   608 

Green,  Norvtn   352 

(Jrinnell,  Moses  H   98 

Harper,  James   152 

Hatch,  G.  W   528 

Helmuth,  William  Tod   624 

Henderson,  Peter   796 


ORTRAITS. 

j  Hoe,  Peter  S   306 

Hoe,  Richard  M   306 

Hoe,  Robert   306 

Hoyt,  JosErH  B   770 

Hughes,  John  (Archbishop)   254 

I  IvrsoN,  Henry   582 

I  Jay,  William   22 

Jesup,  Morris  K   444 

Kurtz,  William   842 

Lee,  Gideon   54 

|  Leggett,  Francis  H   696 

Lossing,  Benson  J  tillr  ]>btte 

Low,  Abiel  A     272 

McKesson,  John   546 

McCloskey,  John  (Cardinal)   360 

Macy,  R.  H   762 

|  Macy,  William  H   414 

Martin,  Charles  J   460 

Mott,  Jordan  L   484 

Mott,  Valentine  '   46 

Moss,  John  C     746 

Munn,  O.  D   590 

Ottendorfer,  Oswald   388 

Packard,  S.  S   652 

Pierrepont,  Edwards   188 

I  Prime,  S.  Ieen.eus   452 

Raynor,  Samuel   730 

Renwick,  James   378 

Ridley,  Edward   704 

Rogers,  John     778 

Roberts,  Marshall  0   334 

Starin,  John  H   510 

Steinway,  Henry   518 

Stephenson,  John   660 

Sturges,  Jonathan   66 

Taylor,  Moses   180 

Thompson,  John   406 

Thorne,  Jonathan   396 

Tuff  any,  Charles  L   324 

Tyng,  Stephen  H   162 

Valentine,  Lawson   714 

:  Vanderbilt,  Cornelius   144 

Van  Nostrand,  Daniel   824 


vi 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Wales.  Salem  H  facing  page  492 

Webb,  James  Watson   126 

Webb,  William  H   424 


Weed,  Thurlow  832 

Winston,  Frederick  S   244 


VIEWS  OF  PARKS, 

Academy  of  Music  .faring  page  208 

American  News  Company  Building  . .  642 

Astor  Library.    208 

Baptist  Home  for  the  Aged   288 

Bartholdi  Statue  of  Liberty.  . .  .title  plate 
Bates,  Reed  and  Cooley's  Building.  .  806 

Battery  and  Castle  Garden  500 

Bellevue  Hospital   134 

Bible  House   288 

Bloomingdale  Asylum   134 

Calvary  Baptlst  Church   134 

Central  Bark   432 

Chemical  Bank   564 

Charlier  Institute   208 

City  Hall,  Court- House,  and  Park..  564 

Columbia  College   208 

Cooper  Union   208 

Custom-House   564 

Dakota  Apartment  House  642 

Elevated  Railroad  title  plate 

Equestrian  Statue  of  Washington.  .  564 

Evening  Post  Building   642 

Five  Points  House  of  Industry  288 

Fraunce's  Tavern,  where  Washington 
Parted  with  his  Officers  .  .  .frontispiece 

Fulton  Ferry  564 

Fulton  Street  Daily  Nooh  Prayer- 
Meeting    134 

Oramercy  Park  500 

Herald  Building   642 

High  Bridge   title  plate 

Howard  Mission   288 

John  Street  Methodist  Church  . .  134 

Lenox  Library   208 

Madison  Square  500 

Map  of  New  York  in  1728   14 

Masonic  Hall  in  1830  .frontispiece 

Masonic  Temple  288 

Methodist  Book  Concern   288 

Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art   208 

Mills  Building   642 

Mount  Morris  Pabk   500 

National  Academy  of  the  Arts  of 

Design   208 

New  York  in  1776  frontispiece 


BUILDINGS,  Etc. 

New  Fulton  Market  .facing  page  504 

New  York  Historical  Society   208 

New  York  Hospital   134 

New  York  and  Brooklyn  Bridge,  title  plate 

New  Washington  Market   504 

Newsboys'  Lodging- House   288 

Nieuw  Amsterdam  in  1659. . .  .  frontispiece 

Normal  College   208 

Obelisk,  The   564 

Old  City  Hall  frontispiece 

Old  Government  House  in  1810  frontispiece 
Old  Stone  Bridge,  Canal  Street  and 

Broadway  in  1812  .frontispiece 

Post  Office   564 

Presbyterian  Church,  Fifth  Avenue..  134 

Presbyterian  Hospital   134 

Produce  Exchange   642 

Residence  of  Mrs.  A.  T.  Stewart.  . .  642 

R.  Hoe  &  Co.'s  Building   722 

St.  Luke's  Hospital   134 

St.  Patrick's  Cathedral    370 

Seventh  Regiment  Armory    564 

Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruel- 
ty to  Animals   288 

Staats-Zeitung  Building   642 

Stock  Exchange   642 

Stuyvesant  Square   500 

Sun  Building   642 

Temple  Court   564 

Temple  Emanu-el   134 

Tombs,  The   564 

Times  Building   642 

Tribune  Building   642 

Trinity  Church   134 

Tompkins  Squaee   500 

Union  Squabe   500 

Union  Theological  Seminary   564 

United  Bank  Building   642 

Vanderbelt  Mansions    642 

Washington  Square  500 

Western  Union  Telegraph  Building.  .642 

Windsor  Hotel  564 

Worth  Monument  «  564 

Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
Hall   288 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 

OUTLINE  HISTORY,  1609-1830. 


CHAPTER  T. 


IT  was  a  warm  day  in  early  September,  1609,  when  the  yacht  IMf- 
3foon,  of  ninety  tons  burden,  the  hull  of  which  bore  many  scars  of 
wounds  received  in  battle  Avith  ice-floes  in  polar  seas,  anchored  in  a  bay 
now  known  as  the  harbor  of  New  York.  She  had  a  high  poop  after 
the  fashion  of  the  times,  strong  masts,  and  ample  spars  and  sails.  She 
was  commanded  by  Henry  Hudson,  an  expert  English  navigator,  then 
employed  by  the  Dutch  East  India  Company  in  searching  for  a  passage 
through  arctic  waters  to  far-off  China  and  the  adjacent  islands  of  the 
sea. 

Hudson  had  failed  to  penetrate  the  polar  ice,  and  now  sought  the 
"  strait  below  Virginia,"  spoken  of  by  his  friend  Captain  Smith,  which 
might  bear  his  vessel  to  the  "  South  Sea"  or  Pacific  Ocean.  He  had 
failed  to  find  it  ;  but  now,  looking  up  the  broad  stream  northward 
from  his  anchorage,  in  which  the  tide  ebbed  and  flowed,  his  hopes 
revived,  and  he  ascended  the  smooth  waters  toward  the  high  mountains 
dimly  seen  in  the  hazy  distance.  But  as  he  drew  near  these  lofty  hills, 
and  the  water  freshened  more  and  more,  he  was  satisfied  that  it  was  a 
great  river  and  not  a  connecting  strait  between  the  two  oceans. 

Hudson  sailed  up  the  river  to  the  head  of  tidewater,  more  than  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles,  finding  dusky  inhabitants  everywhere.  He 
was  charmed  with  the  beauty  of  the  country  and  its  promise  of  wealth 
and  renown  to  whatever  people  should  occupy  it.  Returning  to  the 
ocean,  he  sailed  away  for  Europe  to  tell  his  employers  what  a  magnifi- 
cent prize  he  had  won  for  them.  He  had  not  reached  India  by  the 
way  of  the  Arctic  Circle,  but  he  had  discovered  a  great  river  miming 
through  a  magnificent  country  heavily  timbered,  abounding  with  fur- 
bearing  animals,  and  occupied  by  half-naked  barbarians  only. 

Hudson's  wonderful  story  aroused  the  commercial  cupidity  of  the 
Dutch  merchants  of  Amsterdam,  who  had  already  established  a  very 
profitable  fur  trade  with  the  northern  Kussias.  Very  soon  Dutch  ves- 
sels from  the  Texel,  among  them  the  discovery  yacht,  appeared  in  the 
waters  where  Hudson  first  anchored  the  Half-Moon y  and  not  long 
afterward  Captain  Christiansen,  as  agent  for  the  merchants,  accom- 


4 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


panied  by  expert  trappers  and  traders,  built  a  redoubt,  four  log  huts, 
and  a  storehouse  on  the  slope  west  of  (present)  Broadway,  just  above 
the  Bowling  Green.  This  was  the  seed  of  the  commercial  metropolis 
of  America,  planted  in  1(512,  at  the  southern  extremity  of  a  long,  rocky, 
and  swampy  island  which  the  barbarians  called  Man-na-hat-ta. 

Among  the  bold  Dutch  navigators  who  came  to  Man-na-hat-ta  or 
Manhattan  was  Adrien  Block,  in  the  schooner  Tigress.  When  she  was 
laden  with  bear-skins  and  was  about  to  depart  for  the  Texel  late  in 
1613,  she  took  fire  and  became  a  blackened  wreck.  Before  the  next 
spring,  oaks  that  had  sheltered  bears  where  Wall  Street  "  bulls"  now 
contend  with  financial  bruins,  were  fashioned  into  a  trim-built  yacht  of 
sixteen  tons,  which  was  filled  with  skins  and  sailed  for  the  Texel.  She 
was  named  the  Onrust — the  "  Restless'''' — a  prophecy  of  that  unresting 
activity  which  now  marks  the  island  of  Manhattan.  Such  was  the  be- 
ginning, in  lfil-f,  of  the  vast  merchant  marine  of  the  city  of  Xew  York. 

In  accordance  with  an  ordinance  lately  passed  by  the  Government  of 
Holland,  the  Amsterdam  merchants  hastened  to  obtain  a  special  license 
for  trading  in  the  newly  discovered  region.  They  procured  a  charter 
which  gave  them  the  monopoly  of  the  trade  for  four  years,  and  the 
region  was  named  New  Netheiiand.  They  enlarged  their  storehouse 
at  Manhattan,  built  forts  as  trading  stations  near  the  site  of  Albany, 
and  the  little  seed  planted  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  by  Christiansen 
germinated  into  a  thriving  plant  of  empire — a  village  which  they  called 
Manhattan.  Finally,  in  1621,  these  merchants  and  others  obtained 
from  the  States-General  (the  Congress)  of  Holland  a  charter  for  a 
Dutch  West  India  Company.  It  made  it  a  great  commercial  monop- 
oly, possessing  almost  regal  powers  to  colonize,  govern,  and  defend, 
not  only  that  little  domain  on  the  Hudson,  but  the  whole  unoccupied 
coasts  of  America  from  Newfoundland  to  Cape  Horn,  and  from  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope  far  northward  along  the  coast  of  Africa.  The 
charter  contained  all  the  guarantees  of  freedom,  in  social,  political,  and 
religious  life,  necessary  to  the  founding  of  a  free  state,  and  which 
characterized  the  institutions  of  Holland.  Xo  stranger  was  to  be  ques- 
tioned concerning  his  nativity  or  his  creed.  "  Do  you  wish  to  build,  to 
plant,  and  to  become  a  citizen  V  was  the  sum  of  the  catechism  when 
a  new-comer  appeared. 

Before  the  company  was  fairly  organized,  the  menacing  growls  of  the 
lion  of  England  induced  them  to  adopt  measures  for  making  a  perma- 
nent settlement  in  New  Netherland,  and  place  an  industrious  colony 
there  who  should  found  a  state.  In  lf!23  the  company  sent  over  the 
New  Xetherhmri ,  a  stanch  ship  of  two  hundred  and  sixty  tons,  bearing 


OUTLINE  HISTORY,  1G09  1830. 


5 


thirty  families  of  Walloons,  Protestant  refugees  from  (present)  Belgium, 
who  spoke  the  French  language  and  who  had  settled  in  Holland. 
They  consisted  of  one  hundred  and  ten  men,  women,  and  children. 
They  brought  with  them  agricultural  implements,  cows,  horses,  sheep, 
and  swine,  and  a  sufficiency  of  household  furniture  to  make  them  com- 
fortable. Captain  May,  who  commanded  the  New  NetherUmd,  was 
constituted  their  first  or  temporary  governor. 

These  immigrants — the  first  of  a  vast  multitude  who  have  come  to 
our  shores  in  the  course  of  more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  years — 
landed  from  the  New  Nethevland  in  small  boats,  at  the  rock}'  point  on 
which  Castle  Garden  now  stands,  and  is  the  receptacle  of  thousands  of 
emigrants  who  enter  the  harbor  of  New  York  every  year.  It  was  a 
beautiful  morning  in  May,  1623,  when  they  ascended  the  bank  in  their 
picturesque  costumes,  every  man  carrying  some  article  of  domestic  use, 
and  many  of  the  women  carrying  a  baby  or  a  small  child  in  their  arms. 
They  were  cordially  received  by  the  traders  and  friendly  Indians,  and 
were  feasted  under  a  tent  made  of  sails  stretched  between  several  trees. 
A  Christian  teacher  accompanied  them,  who,  before  they  partook  of 
their  first  meal,  offered  up  fervent  thanks  to  Almighty  God  for  his  pre- 
serving care  during  their  long  voyage,  and  implored  his  blessing  upon 
the  great  undertaking  before  them.  Captain  May  then  read  his  com- 
mission as  governor  of  the  colony  and  the  country  ;  and  so  the  germ  of 
the  city  and  State  of  New  York  was  planted  in  a  fruitful  soil. 

These  immigrants  were  immediately  scattered  to  different  points  to 
form  settlements.  Some  founded  the  city  of  Brooklyn  on  Long  Island, 
and  near  what  was  known  as  the  Wallabomt  (now  the  Navy- Yard), 
Sarah  Rapalje,  the  earliest  born  in  New  Netherland  of  European  parents, 
first  saw  the  light  of  life.  Some  went  up  the  Connecticut  River  and 
built  Fort  Good  Hope,  just  below  the  site  of  Hartford  ;  others  planted 
themselves  at  Esopus,  in  Ulster  County,  N.  Y.,  and  on  the  site  of 
Albany  ;  and  four  young  married  couples  went  to  the  Delaware  ami 
began  a  settlement  on  the  New  Jersey  side  of  that  stream,  a  few  miles 
below  Philadelphia.  New  Netherland  was  constituted  a  county  of 
Holland,  its  official  seal  bearing  the  fijrure  of  a  beaver  with  the  coronet 
of  a  count  for  its  crest. 

"When  the  Neio  Netherland  returned  to  the  Texel  with  furs  valued  at 
over  $10,000,  and  her  commander  reported  the  colonists  in  good  heart 
and  prosperous,  there  was  as  much  excitement  as  was  possible  in  the 
staid  Dutch  towns  in  Holland.  People  longed  to  go  to  the  pictured 
paradise.  The  members  of  the  "West  India  Company  were  delighted. 
They  commissioned  Peter  Minuit.  one  of  their  number,  First  Director 


6 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


or  governor  ;  sent  other  ships  with  emigrants,  stock,  and  agricultural 
implements  ;  and  when  the  new  governor  arrived,  in  1626,  he  opened 
negotiations  with  the  barbarians  for  the  purchase  of  Manhattan  Island. 
It  contained,  it  was  estimated,  about  twenty-two  thousand  acres  of 
land,  and  it  was  bought  for  the  sum  of  twenty-four  dollars,  which  was 
paid  in  cheap  trinkets,  implements  of  husbandry,  and  weapons.  Each 
party  was  satisfied,  for  each  felt  it  had  made  a  good  bargain. 

When  the  purchase  was  completed,  an  engineer  staked  out  the  lines 
of  a  fort  at  the  southern  extremity  of  the  island,  near  the  site  of  the 
modern  "  Battery."  The  specification  called  for  a  work  "  faced  with 
stone,  having  four  angles,'1  by  which  the  Bay  in  front  and  the  Hudson 
and  East  rivers  on  its  flanks  might  be  commanded  by  cannon.  The 
fort,  which  was  nothing  more  than  a  strong  redoubt  surrounded  l>v 
cedar  palisades,  was  finished  the  next  year,  and  was  named  Fort 
Amsterdam.  Each  settler  protected  by  it  owned  the  house  he  lived  in, 
kept  a  cow,  tilled  the  land,  and  traded  with  the  Indians.  There  were 
no  idle  persons.  The  traders  delivered  all  their  furs  at  the  trading- 
house  of  the  company  (a  large  stone  building  thatched  with  reeds), 
and  the  year  when  the  fort  was  completed  furs  were  sent  to  Holland 
valued  at  almost  twenty  thousand  dollars,  As  yet  there  was  neither  a 
clergyman  nor  a  schoolmaster  in  the  colony,  but  there  were  two 
appointed  "  consolers  of  the  sick,"  whose  duty  it  was  to  read  the  Script- 
ures and  the  creeds  to  the  people  on  Sundays,  who  were  gathered  in  a 
large  loft  of  a  horse-mill.  A  tower  was  erected,  in  which  were  hung 
Spanish  bells  captured  by  the  company's  fleet  at  Porto  Rico  the  year 
before— the  first  "  church-win"-  bells"1  heard  on  Manhattan  Island. 

It  was  during  the  building  of  the  fort  that  an  event  occurred  which 
caused  much  embarrassment  and  misery  to  the  colony  afterward.  An 
Indian,  his  nephew,  and  another  barbarian,  members  of  a  tribe  in 
Westchester  County,  came  to  Manhattan  with  beaver-skins  to  barter 
with  the  Dutch.  The  beaten  trail  of  the  Indians  from  the  Harlem 
1  liver  was  along  the  shores  of  the  East  River  to  Kip's  Bay,  and  then 
diverging  westward  passed  by  a  large  pond  Where  the  halls  of  justice, 
or  The  Tombs,  now  stand.  At  that  pond  they  were  met  by  three 
farm  servants  of  the  governor,  who  robbed  and  murdered  the  men  with 
the  peltries.  The  boy  escaped.  This  deed  was  long  unknown  to  the 
Dutch  authorities,  and  the  guilty  men  probably  escaped  punishment, 
lint  the  young  barbarian  vowed  he  would  avenge  the  murder  of  his 
uncle.  It  was  done  with  fearful  usury  years  afterward.  This  atrocious 
deed  made  the  surrounding  Indians,  who  were  disposed  to  be  friendly 
with  the  Europeans,  jealous,  suspicious,  and  vengeful. 


OUTLINE  HISTORY,  1 009  1830. 


7 


The  little  colony  flourished,  and  the  village  which  grew  up  under  the 
protecting  wing-  of  the  fort  was  called  Manhattan,  which  name  it 
retained  until  Stuyvesant  came  in  KMT.  The  community  at  Manhattan 
became  cosmopolitan  in  its  composition,  as  New  York  now  is,  because 
of  the  freedom  enjoyed  there,  and  finally  gave  to  the  State  and  nation 
a  race  in  whose  veins  course  the  blood  of  Teuton,  Saxon,  Celt,  and 
Gaul.  Their  passion  for  far-reaching  commerce  and  adventurous  enter- 
prise has  been  a  characteristic  of  the  inhabitants  of  Manhattan  Island 
from  that  time  until  the  present,  through  all  their  social  and  political 
vicissitudes. 

"Within  twenty  years  after  Hudson's  discovery  of  the  island  the 
people  there  turned  their  attention  to  ship-building,  and  in  1031  they 
actually  completed  a  ship,  named  Xew  Netherlands  of  six  hundred  or 
eight  hundred  tons,  and  sent  it  to  Holland.  It  was  probably  one  of 
the  greatest  merchant  vessels  then  in  the  world.  It  was  a  costly 
experiment,  and  was  not  repeated  ;  and  it  was  nearly  two  hundred 
years  afterward  when  the  shipwrights  of  Manhattan  began  to  build 
merchant  vessels  of  such  large  proportions. 

The  "West  India  Company,  in  order  to  encourage  emigration  to  New 
Xetherland  and  increase  the  population  and  strength  of  the  colony, 
"•ranted  to  some  of  the  directors  large  tracts  of  land,  and  invested  each 
with  the  privileges  of  a  "  lord  of  the  manor/' on  condition  that  he 
should,  within  a  specified  time,  have  on  his  estates  fifty  bona-fide 
settlers.  These  proprietors  were  called  patroons.  One  of  the  most 
extensive  landholder's  among  these  directors  was  Killian  Van  Rens- 
selaer,  a  pearl  merchant  in  Amsterdam,  whose  domain  lay  on  each  side 
of  the  Hudson  River  at  or  near  Albany. 

In  the  warehouse  of  the  company  at  Amsterdam  was  a  clerk  named 
Van  Twiller,  who  had  married  Van  Rensselaer's  niece.  He  was 
narrow-minded  and  inexperienced,  but  he  had  served  Van  Rensselaer 
well  in  shipping  cattle  to  his  American  domain.  Through  that 
director's  influence  Van  Twiller  was  appointed  governor  of  Xew 
Xetherland,  to  succeed  Minuit.  He  was  a  sleek,  rotund,  bullet-beaded 
Dutchman,  who  loved  ease  of  mind  and  body  ;  was  dull  of  intellect,  yet 
shrewd  and  cunning  :  always  courageous  where  there  was  no  danger, 
and  undecided  and  wavering.  He  came  to  New  Amsterdam  in  1633, 
and  was  a  dead  weight  upon  the  prosperity  of  the  colony  for  four 
years  ;  yet  it  flourished  in  spite  of  him.  With  him  came  Everardus 
Bogardus,  the  first  clergyman  who  appeared  in  the  colony  ;  also  a 
schoolmaster. 

Bogardus  was  an  able,   earnest,  and  bold  man.     Faithful  to  his 


8 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


mission,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  reprove  Van  Twiller  for  his  short- 
comings in  his  official,  moral,  and  religious  duties.  On  one  occasion  he 
called  him  a  "  child  of  the  devil  "  to  his  face,  and  told  him  that  if  he 
did  not  behave  himself  he  would  "give  him  such  a  shake  from  the 
pulpit"  the  next  Sunday  as  would  make  him  tremble  like  a  bowl  of 
jelly.  Van  Twiller  lost  the  respect  of  all  the  citizens,  and  was  recalled. 
This  was  a  severe  disappointment  to  him,  for  he  had  dreamed  of  living 
in  ease  and  dying  in  New  Netherland.  He  had  bought  Nutten  Island, 
in  the  harbor,  and  there  he  proposed  to  retire  when  the  cares  of 
government  should  become  too  burdensome  for  him,  and  vegetate  in 
luxurious  comfort.  That  little  domain  has  been  known  as  "  Governor's 
Island  "  ever  since. 

Van  Twiller  was  succeeded  by  William  Keift,  an  energetic,  rapacious, 
and  unscrupulous  man,  who  brought  serious  trouble  upon  the  colony. 
He  endeavored  to  concentrate  all  power  in  his  own  hands,  and  began  a 
tyrannous  rule.  A  small  colony  of  Swedes  had  settled  on  the  Dela- 
ware. With  these  Keift  quarrelled.  He  incurred  the  enmity  of  the 
English  on  the  Connecticut,  and  of  the  Indians  all  around.  Under  a 
flimsy  pretence  he  sent  an  armed  force  to  attack  the  Raritan  Indians 
in  New  Jersey.  Many  of  them  were  killed.  Savage  vengeance  did 
not  slumber  long.  The  Raritans  ravaged  outlying  plantations  and 
murdered  their  occupants.  Keift  prepared  for  war.  The  colonists, 
alarmed,  boldly  opposed  him.  They  held  him  responsible  for  their 
troubles.  Hitherto  they  had  lived  peaceably  with  their  barbarian 
neighbors  ;  now  these  were  all  hostile.  Keift  yielded  to  popular 
clamor  for  the  moment.  He  requested  the  inhabitants  to  choose 
twelve  men,  heads  of  families,  with  whom  he  might  consult  on  public 
affairs.  It  was  done,  and  this  was  the  germ  of  representative  govern- 
ment in  the  State  of  New  York.  The  Twelve  not  only  refused  to 
sanction  Keift's  war  schemes,  but  took  cognizance  of  public  grievances, 
when  he  dismissed  them. 

Some  River  Indians  fled  before  the  fiery  Mohawks  and  took  refuge 
with  the  Ilackensacks  at  Hoboken.  Keift,  burning  with  a  cruel  desire 
to  "  chastise  savages,"  sent  over  a  body  of  armed  men  at  midnight  in 
February,  lt!43,  who  fell  upon  the  sleeping  fugitives  and  before  the 
dawn  massacred  a  hundred  men,  women,  and  children,  and  returned  to 
New  Amsterdam  with  the  heads  of  several  of  the  slain.  By  this 
savage  act  the  fierce  hatred  and  thirst  for  vengeance  of  all  the  surround- 
ing barbarians  were  aroused.  A  furious  war  was  kindled.  Villages 
and  farms  were  desolated,  and  white  people  were  butchered  wherever 
the  Indians  found  them.    For  two  years  the  colony  of  New  Netherland 


OUTLINE  HISTORY,  1G09-1830. 


9 


was  threatened  with  destruction.  The  war  finally  ceased.  The  people 
clamored  for  the  recall  of  the  governor,  and  he  was  summoned  to 
Holland.  He  perished  hy  shipwreck  while  on  his  way  with  a  large 
fortune,  and  was  succeeded  by  Peter  Stuyvesant  in  1647,  late  governor 
of  Curacoa,  a  soldier  of  eminence,  and  possessed  of  every  requisite  for 
an  efficient  administration  of  government.* 

Stuyvesant  was  too  frank  and  hold  to  conceal  his  opinions  and  inten- 
tions. At  the  very  outset  he  frowned  at  every  expression  of  republi- 
can sentiment,  defended  Keift's  rejection  of  the  interference  of  the 
Twelve,  and  plainly  told  the  people,  "  If  any  one  during  my  adminis- 
tration shall  appeal,  I  will  make  him  a  foot  shorter  and  send  the  pieces 
to  Holland,  and  let  him  appeal  in  that  way.  .  .  .  It  is  treason  to 
petition  against  one's  magistrate,  whether  there  be  cause  or  not." 
With  such  despotic  sentiments  Stuyvesant  began  his  iron  rule.  He 
was  a  tyrant  ;  yet  honesty  and  wisdom  marked  all  his  acts.  He  set 
about  reforms  with  vigor.  The  morals  of  the  people,  the  sale  of 
intoxicating  liquors  to  the  Indians,  the  support  of  religion,  and  the 
regulation  of  trade  received  his  immediate  attention,  and  he  imparted 
much  of  his  own  energy  to  the  citizens.  Enterprise  took  the  place  of 
sluggishness,  lie  treated  the  Indians  so  kindly,  and  so  soon  won  their 
respect  and  friendship,  that  the  foolish  story  went  abroad  that  he  was 
forming  an  alliance  with  the  savages  to  exterminate  the  English  at  the 
eastward. 

Stuyvesant  found  the  finances  of  the  colony  in  such  a  wretched  con- 
dition that  taxation  was  necessary.  For  two  centuries  a  political 
maxim  of  Holland  had  been,  "  Taxation  without  representation  is 
tyranny"' — a  postulate  copied  by  our  patriots  when  they  began  the  old 
war  for  independence.  Stuyvesant  dared  not  disregard  this  great  prin- 
ciple, for  it  would  offend  his  masters  the  States-General,  so  he  called  a 
meeting  of  citizens  and  directed  them  to  choose  eighteen  of  their  best 
men,  of  whom  he  might  select  nine  as  representatives  of  the  taxpayers, 
who  should  form  a  co-ordinate  branch  of  the  local  government.  He 
was  careful  to  hedge  this  popular  council  about  with  restrictions.  The 

*  Peter  Stuyvesant  was  the  last  Dutch  governor  of  New  Netherland.  He  was  born  in 
Holland  in  1C02,  and  died  in  the  city  of  New  York  (formerly  New  Amsterdam)  in  August, 
1682.  Serving  as  a  soldier  in  the  West  Indies,  he  became  governor  of  Curacoa.  He 
lost  a  leg  in  battle.  Returning  to  Holland,  he  was  sent  to  New  Netherland  as  First 
Director  or  Governor,  in  1647,  where  he  ruled  tyrannically  but  righteously  until  1664, 
when  the  province  was  taken  possession  of  by  the  English.  After  that  event  he  went  to 
Holland  to  report  in  person  the  misfortunes  of  the  colony.  He  returned  to  New  York, 
and  resided  on  his  farm,  which  lay  along  the  East  River  on  Manhattan  Island.  His  wife 
was  Judith  Bayard,  by  whom  he  had  two  sons.    He  was  dignified,  honest,  and  brave. 


10 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


first  nine  selected  were  to  choose  their  successors,  so  as  to  prevent  the 
people  having  a  direct  voice  in  public  affairs.  But  the  Nine  proved  to 
be  more  potent  than  the  Twelve.  They  nourished  the  prolific  seed  of 
democracy,  and  gave  Stuyvesant  much  uneasiness. 

The  inhabitants  of  Manhattan  asked  the  States-General  for  a  muni- 
cipal government.  It  was  granted  in  1053,  under  the  corporate  title  of 
New  Amsterdam.  Its  government  was  modelled  after  that  of  old 
Amsterdam,  but  with  somewhat  less  political  freedom  in  its  features. 
The  soul  of  Stuvvesant  was  troubled  bv  this  "  imprudent  trusting?  of 
power  with  the  people/1  The  burghers  wished  for  more  power,  but  it 
could  not  then  be  obtained.  A  silver  seal  was  given  to  the  authorities 
of  the  new  city,  and  a  painted  coat-of-arms  was  sent  to  them. 

A  new  trouble  disturbed  Stuvvesant.  In  the  fall  of  the  same  year 
when  New  Amsterdam  was  incorporated,  a  convention  of  nineteen 
delegates,  chosen  by  the  people  of  eight  villages  or  communities,  assem- 
bled at  the  town-hall  in  the  city,  ostensibly  to  take  measures  against  the 
depredations  of  savages  and  pirates.  The  governor  tried  to  control 
their  action,  but  failed.  When  they  adjourned  they  invited  the 
governor  to  partake  of  a  collation  with  them.  Of  course  he  would  not 
so  sanction  their  proceedings,  and  refused,  when  they  plainly  told  him 
he  might  do  as  he  pleased  ;  they  should  hold  another  convention  soon, 
and  he  might  prevent  it  if  he  could.  Stuvvesant  stormed  and  threat- 
ened these  incipient  rebels,  but  prudently  yielded  and  issued  a  call  for 
another  convention,  and  so  gave  legality  to  the  measure.  They  met 
on  December  10, 1053.  Many  English  people  were  now  settled  among 
the  Dutch,  and  had  intermarried  with  them,  and  of  the  nineteen  dele- 
gates chosen  ten  were  of  Dutch  and  nine  of  English  nativity.  This 
was  the  liist  real  representative  government  in  the  great  State  of  New 
York,  now  an  empire  with  a  population  of  over  five  millions. 

Now  and  here  was  fought  the  first  battle  between  democracy  and 
despotism  on  the  soil  of  New  York.  The  convention  adopted  a  remon- 
strance to  the  States-General  against  the  tyrannous  rule  of  the  gov- 
ernor, and  sent  it  to  him,  with  a  demand  for  a  categorical  answer  to 
each  of  the  several  counts.  He  met  it  with  his  usual  pluck.  He 
denied  their  authority.  He  blustered  and  threatened.  They  told  him 
plainly  that  if  he  refused  to  comply  with  their  demand  they  would 
appeal  to  the  States-General.  At  this  threat,  uttered  by  the  lips  of  a 
bold  messenger — Beeckman,  of  Brooklyn — the  governor  took  fire,  and 
seizing  his  cane  ordered  him  to  leave  his  presence.  The  ambassador 
folded  his  arms  and  silently  defied  the  wrath  of  Stuyvesant.  When 
his  anger  cooled  he  asked  Beeckman  to  pardon  his  sudden  ebullition  of 


OUTLINE  HISTORY,  1C09-1830. 


11 


feeling,  but  he  ordered  the  convention  to  disperse  instantly.  They 
did  no  such  thing,  hut  executed  their  threat  by  sending  an  advocate 
to  Holland  with  a  list  of  their  grievances,  and  asked  for  redress.  So 
republicanism,  like  any  other  truth,  has  remarkable  vitality,  and  is 
fostered  by  persecution.  It  never  receded  from  the  position  it  assumed 
in  New  Amsterdam  at  Christmas,  1C53. 

Stuyvesant  was  a  faithful  servant  of  the  Dutch  West  India  Company, 
watching  and  defending  its  interests  at  all  points.  The  Swedes  on  the 
Delaware  became  aggressive  ;  he  made  war  upon  them,  conquered 
them,  and  as  did  Alfred  of  England  with  the  Danes,  he  ahsorbed  them 
politically,  and  they  became  loyal  subjects  of  the  Dutch.  This  accom- 
plished, the  long  peace  with  the  Indians  was  suddenly  broken  by  the 
murder  of  a  squaw  by  a  citizen  of  New  Amsterdam,  who  detected  her 
stealing  bis  peaches.  The  fury  of  her  tribe  was  fiercely  kindled. 
Before  daybreak  one  morning,  about  two  thousand  River  Indians 
appeared  before  New  Amsterdam  in  sixty  canoes.  They  landed,  and 
searched  for  the  murderer  of  the  squaw.  Stuyvesant  summoned  their 
leaders  to  a  conference  at  the  fort.  They  were  promised  justice,  and 
agreed  to  leave  the  island.  They  did  not,  and  at  midnight  they 
invaded  the  city  and  shot  the  murderer,  whom  they  knew.  The  people 
flew  to  arms  and  drove  the  barbarians  from  the  city.  The  Indians 
crossed  the  surrounding  waters  and  ravaged  New  Jersey  and  Staten 
Island.  Within  three  days  a  hundred  white  inhabitants  were  killed, 
fifty  were  made  captive,  and  three  hundred  estates  were  utterly 
desolated  by  the  dusky  foe.  Stuyvesant  finally  restored  order, 
and  then  issued  a  proclamation  directing  those  who  lived  in  secluded 
places  in  the  country  to  gather  themselves  into  villages  for  mutual 
defence. 

Another  and  more  serious  crisis  for  New  Amsterdam  and  New 
Netherland  came.  The  British  always  claimed  the  whole  territory  of 
New  Netherland  as  their  own.  The  British  monarch  granted  the 
domain  to  his  brother,  the  Duke  of  York.  In  1604  the  duke  sent  ships 
of  war  and  troops  to  take  possession.  The  people  of  New  Amsterdam 
were  quite  willing  to  exchange  Dutch  rule  for  "  English  liberty,''  and 
counselled  submission  when  the  armament  appeared.  Stuyvesant  held 
out,  but  was  finally  compelled  to  yield.  The  English  took  possession. 
The  name  of  the  fort  was  changed  from  Amsterdam  to  James,  and  the 
name  of  the  city  and  province  were  changed  to  New  York.  The  city 
was  held  temporarily  by  the  Dutch  awhile  afterward,  when  New 
Netherland  became  a  permanent  English  possession.  But  the  people 
soon  found  "  English  liberty"  not  so  easy  to  bear  as  ';  Dutch  tyranny/' 


12 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


for  their  new  masters  taxed  them  almost  without  stint.  Yet  they 
prospered,  and  were  comparatively  happy. 

Republicanism  grew  apace  in  the  city  and  province  of  New  York. 
Many  of  that  faith  had  fled  from  persecution  to  America,  and  inocu- 
lated the  people  here  with  its  doctrines.  The  people  of  New  York 
clamored  for  a  representative  government,  and  in  1683 — about  thirty 
years  after  the  Dutch  of  the  same  city  made  a  similar  demand — their 
request  was  granted.  Governor  Dongan,  an  enlightened  Roman 
Catholic,  favored  their  wishes,  and  on  the  17th  of  October,  1G83,  was 
established  the  first  General  Assembly  of  the  Province  of  New  York, 
which  sat  three  weeks  and  passed  fourteen  acts  which  became  laws. 
The  first  of  these  was  entitled  "  The  ('barter  of  Liberties  and  Privileges 
granted  by  his  Royal  Highness  to  the  inhabitants  of  New  York  and  its 
Dependencies.''  It  was  ratified  by  the  duke.  The  day  of  that  assem- 
bling is  a  memorable  one  in  the  history  of  New  York. 

Before  we  proceed  further,  let  us  take  a  brief  glance  at  the  social 
condition  of  New  York  before  its  surrender  to  the  English.  At  that 
time  it  contained  about  three  hundred  houses  and  about  fifteen 
hundred  inhabitants.  The  city  was  then  one  of  considerable  wealth, 
and  many  of  the  inhabitants  were  enjoying  the  comforts  which  riches 
bring.  But  riches  is  a  thing  of  relative  estimate.  A  citizen  then 
worth  a  thousand  dollars  was  esteemed  a  rich  man.  At  first  their 
houses  were  of  logs,  the  roofs  thatched  with  reeds  and  straw,  the 
chimneys  made  of  wood,  and  the  light  of  the  windows  entered  through 
oiled  paper.  Their  tables  were  made  of  rough  planks  ;  their  platters 
were  of  wood  or  pewter  ;  the  spoons  of  the  same  ;  and  carpets  were 
unknown  until  the  time  of  the  revolution  in  1688.  Finally  the  unsafe 
thatched  roofs  and  wooden  chimneys  gave  place  to  tUes  and  shingles 
and  brick.  The  better  houses  were  built  of  brick  imported  from 
Holland  until  some  enterprising  citizens  established  a  brickyard  on  the 
island  during  the  administration  of  Stuyvesant. 

Every  house  was  surrounded  with  a  garden,  in  which  cabbage  was 
the  chief  vegetable  cultivated,  and  tulips  the  principal  flowers.  Good 
horses  were  rare  until  they  began  to  import  them  from  New  England, 
but  their  cows  and  swine  were  generally  of  excellent  quality.  There 
Avere  no  carriages  until  after  the  revolution,  and  the  first  hackney 
coach  was  introduced  into  the  city  of  New  York  in  1696.  It  is  said 
that  the  first  carpet — a  big  Turkey  rug — seen  in  the  city  belonged  to 
Sarah  Oort,  the  wife  of  the  famous  Captain  Kidd.  The  clean  floors 
were  daily  strewn  with  white  beach-sand  wrought  into  artistic  forms 
by  the  skilful  motion  of  the  broom.    Huge  oaken  chests  filled  with 


OUTLINE  HISTORY,  1609  1830. 


13 


household  linen  wore  seen  in  a  corner  of  a  room  in  every  house,  and  in 
another  corner  a  triangular  cupboard  with  a  glass  door,  in  which  was 
displayed  shining  pewter  or  other  plates.  As  wealth  increased  a  few 
had  china  tea-sets,  and  solid  silver  tankards,  punch-bowls,  porringers, 
and  ladles.  Tea  had  only  lately  found  its  way  to  New  York  when  the 
revolution  of  1(>8S  occurred. 

Clocks  and  watches  were  almost  unknown,  and  time  was  measured 
by  sun-dials  and  hour-glasses.  The  habits  of  the  people  were  so  regular 
that  they  did  not  need  clocks  and  watches.  At  nine  o'clock  they  all 
said  their  prayers  and  went  to  bed.  They  arose  at  cock-crowing,  and 
breakfasted  before  sunrise.  Dinner-parties  were  unknown,  but  tea- 
parties  were  frequent.  These  ended,  the  participants  went  home  in 
time  to  attend  to  the  milking  of  the  cows.  In  every  house  were 
spinning-wheels,  and  it  was  the  pride  of  every  family  to  have  an  ample 
supply  of  home-made  linen  and  woollen  cloth.  The  women  spun  and 
wove,  and  were  steadily  employed.  Nobody  was  idle.  Nobody  was 
anxious  to  get  rich,  while  all  practised  thrift  and  frugality.  Books 
were  rare  luxuries,  and  in  most  houses  the  Bible  and  Prayer-book 
constituted  the  stock  of  literature.  The  weekly  discourses  of  the 
clergymen  satisfied  their  intellectual  wants,  while  their  own  hands, 
industriously  employed,  furnished  all  their  physical  necessities.  Knit- 
ting and  spinning  held  the  place  of  whist  and  music  in  these  "  degener- 
ate days,"  and  utility  was  as  plainly  stamped  upon  all  their  labors  and 
pleasures  as  is  the  maker's  name  on  our  silver  spoons.  These  were  the 
"good  old  days"  of  simplicity,  comparative  innocence,  and  positive 
ignorance,  when  the  "commonalty"  no  more  suspected  the  earth  of 
the  caper  of  turning  over  like  a  ball  of  yarn  every  day  than  Stuyvesant 
did  the  Puritans  of  candor  and  honesty. 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE  Duke  of  York  became  King  of  England  as  James  II.  in  1685. 
As  king  he  refused  to  confirm  the  "  Charter  of  Liberties"  which, 
;is  duke,  he  had  granted  to  the  inhabitants  of  New  York.  lie  ordered 
a  direct  tax,  forbade  the  use  of  a  printing-press  in  the  province,  and 
tilled  the  public  offices  with  Roman  Catholics,  whose  faith  he  had 
embraced  and  avowed.  The  liberal  and  just  Governor  Dongan  stood 
by  the  people  as  long  as  he  could,  but  in  the  spring  of  1688  he  was 
ordered  to  surrender  the  government  of  New  York  into  the  hands  of 
Sir  Edmund  Andros,  a  supple  tool  of  the  king,  who  had  a  viceregal 
commission  to  rule  that  province  and  all  New  England.  Andros  was 
received  in  New  York  by  Colonel  Bayard's  regiment  ;  and  in  the  midst 
of  rejoicings  among  the  royalists — the  aristocracy — because  of  his 
arrival,  news  came  that  James's  queen  had  given  birth  to  a  son  and 
heir  to  his  throne.  The  event  was  celebrated  that  evening  by  a 
banquet  at  the  City  Hall,  while  bonfires  blazed  in  the  streets.  At  the 
festive  table  Mayor  Van  Cortlandt  became  hilarious,  and  testified  his 
loyalty  and  joy  by  making  a  burnt  sacrifice  of  his  hat  and  periwig, 
waving  the  blazing  offerings  over  the  banquet-table  on  the  point  of  his 
straight  sword. 

Republicanism  had  grown  apace  in  New  York,  and  there  was  great 
disappointment  among  the  Protestant  republicans  ;  for  in  case  of  failure 
of  an  heir  on  the  part  of  King  James,  his  daughter  Mary,  who  had 
married  the  Protestant  Prince  William  of  Orange,  would  be  his  suc- 
cessor. Their  disappointment  was  soon  turned  to  joy  when  news  came 
that  James  had  been  driven  from  the  throne,  was  an  exile  in  Erance, 
and  William  and  Mary  were  joint  monarchs  of  England.  The  people 
seized  Fort  James,  at  the  foot  of  Broadway.  Their  leader  was  Jacob 
Leisler,*  a  popular  and  leading  shipping  merchant,  who  had  come  to 

*  Jacob  Leisler  was  a  native  of  Frankfort,  in  Germany.  He  came  to  America  in  1660, 
resided  awhile  in  Albany,  New  York,  when  he  became  a  merchant  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  While  on  a  voyage  to  Europe  in  1678,  he,  with  several  others,  were  made 
prisoners  by  Turks,  and  paid  a  high  price  for  their  ransom.  He  entered  public  life 
under  Governor  Dongan,  and  as  a  military  leader  he  was  at  the  head  of  an  insurrec- 


OUTLINE  HISTORY,  16C0-1S30. 


15 


New  Amsterdam  a  soldier  in  the  service  of  the  West  India  Company, 
and  was  captain  of  one  of  the  militia  companies  of  the  city.  lie  was  a 
warm  friend  of  William  of  Orange  and  an  ardent  republican.  The 
aristocratic  party  of  Xew  York,  led  by  Mayor  Van  Cortlandt,  Colonel 
Bayard,  and  other  members  of  the  council,  hated  Leisler  because  of  his 
political  principles,  and  when,  obedient  to  the  wishes  of  the  people,  he 
assumed  the  functions  of  governor  of  the  province  in  the  absence  of  a 
representative  of  royal  authority,  they  were  enraged  by  this  democratic 
movement,  led  by  "  an  insolent  plebeian  and  foreigner.'"  They  resolved 
on  his  destruction  ;  and  when  a  royal  governor  (Sloughter)  came,  they 
procured  Leister's  arrest  on  a  charge  of  treason.  He  was  unfairly  tried 
and  condemned.  The  governor  hesitated  to  sign  his  death-warrant 
before  the  pleasure  of  the  sovereigns  should  be  known.  Sloughter  was 
made  drunk  at  a  feast,  and  in  that  condition  was  induced  to  sign  the 
fatal  document.  Before  he  was  sober,  Leisler  and  his  son-in-law,  Jacob 
Milborne,  were  hanged.  His  enemies  thought  they  had  crushed 
democracy  in  New  York.  Swift  disappointment  overtook  them.  The 
Earl  of  Bellomont  came  as  governor,  and  under  orders  from  the  Privv 
Council  and  his  king  he  gladly  aided  in  reversing  the  attainder  of 
Leisler  and  procuring  the  restoration  of  the  victim's  confiscated 
property  to  his  children.  The  tables  were  now  turned.  Democracy 
obtained  a  stronger  foothold  in  New  York  than  ever.  Under  the  very 
law  enacted  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  Leisler  to  trial  for  treason, 
Colonel  Bayard,  its  chief  promoter,  Avas  tried  for  the  same  offence, 
found  guilty,  and  saved  from  the  gallows  only  by  the  death  of  Bello- 
mont and  the  accession  of  Edward  Hyde,  a  profligate  man  and  a  bitter 
enemy  of  republicanism  in  any  form.    He  liberated  Bayard. 

We  have  now  come  to  a  period  in  the  history  of  ]STew  York  when 
the  political  and  social  forces  known  respectively  as  Democracy  and 
Aristocracy  were  organized  for  the  great  conflict  which  resulted  in  the 
triumph  of  the  former  at  the  close  of  the  old  war  for  independence  in 
1TS3.  From  the  accession  of  Governor  Lovelace  in  17»>8,  to  that  of 
Governor  Cosby  in  1732,  democracy  prevailed  in  the  General  Assembly 
of  Xew  York,  and  the  royal  representatives  were  compelled  to  yield  to 
the  will  of  the  people  as  expressed  by  that  assembly. 

.V  new  social  element  had  just  been  introduced  into  the  city  of  Xew 

tionary  movement  in  the  city  of  Xew  York  after  the  accession  of  William  anil  Mary.  He 
assumed  the  functions  of  governor  of  the  colony,  but  on  the  arrival  of  a  royally 
appointed  governor  he  was  arrested,  condemned  as  a  traitor,  and  hanged  on  May  16, 
lfiOl,  with  his  son-in-law,  Milborne.  Leisler  purchased  New  Rochelle  for  the  Hugue- 
nots. 


16 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  TORE  CITY. 


York  by  Governor  Hunter.  Louis  XIV.  had  caused  the  expulsion 
from  their  country  of  Protestant  Rhenish  Palatines,  who  besought  the 
British  Government  to  give  them  homes  in  America.  It  was  done, 
and  £10,000  were  appropriated  to  defray  their  expenses,  they  pledging 
themselves  to  produce  materials  for  the  royal  navy  in  the  way  of 
reimbursement.  By  command  of  Queen  Anne,  three  thousand  of  the 
German  Palatines  accompanied  Governor  Hunter  to  New  York.  A 
considerable  number  of  them  remained  in  the  city  ;  others  went  up  the 
Hudson  River  to  Livingston's  manor  and  settled  the  region  known  as 
Gennantown  ;  others  went  to  the  Mohawk  Valley  and  founded  the 
settlement  of  the  German  Flats  ;  while  the  greater  portion  made  homes 
in  Pennsylvania,  and  so  laid  the  foundations  of  the  German  population 
which  forms  so  large  and  influential  an  element  in  the  social  fabric  of 
that  commonwealth.    Those  Germans  "were  industrious  and  frugal. 

o 

Those  who  remained  in  the  city  soon  built  a  Lutheran  church  on 
Broadway,  on  the  site  of  the  first  Grace  Church,  near  Trinity.  This 
was  the  beginning  of  the  vast  German  emigration  to  America. 

In  1725  a  new  element  of  power  in  the  realm  of  opinion  appeared  in 
New  York.  "William  Bradford,*  who  had  set  up  the  first  printing- 
press  in  the  province,  issued  the  first  newspaper  published  in  that 
colony  in  October  of  that  year.  He  entitled  it  the  New  York  Weekly 
(rosette.    It  became  the  organ  of  the  aristocratic  party. 

"When  Governor  Montgomerie  died,  in  1731,  Rip  Van  Dam,  the 
senior  member  of  the  council,  took  charge  of  public  affairs  until  the 
arrival  of  Governor  Cosby  the  next  year.  The  latter  was  avaricious 
and  arbitrary  by  nature.  On  his  arrival  he  demanded  of  Van  Dam  an 
equal  share  in  that  officer's  salary  while  acting  as  governor.  It  was 
refused,  and  Cosby  sued  him  in  the  Supreme  Court.  A  majority  of 
the  judges  were  of  the  aristocratic  party,  and  gave  judgment  against 
Van  Dam.  The  chief  justice  (Morris)  decided  against  the  governor, 
and  the  latter  removed  him  and  put  James  De  Lancey  in  his  place. 
The  sympathies  of  the  people  were  with  Van  Dam.    They  wanted  an 

*  William  Bradford  was  a  Friend  or  Quaker,  and  a  printer  by  trade.  He  was  born  in 
Leicester,  England,  in  1C50,  and  at  the  age  of  23  years  emigrated  to  America,  landing  on 
the  spot  where  Philadelphia  was  begun.  He  had  learned  his  trade  in  London,  and  set 
up  a  press  (the  first)  in  Pennsylvania.  There  was  a  quarrel  among  the  chief  religionists 
of  Pennsylvania.  Bradford  having  become  unpopular  with  the  dominant  party,  he 
removed  to  New  Vork,  where  he  introduced  printing  into  that  province  in  1(593.  That 
year  he  printed  the  laws  of  the  colony.  He  established  the  first  newspaper  in  New 
York,  called  the  JYeio  York  Gazette,  in  the  fall  of  1725,  and  in  1728  he  established  a 
2)aper-rnill  at  Elizabeth,  N.  J.  He  was  printer  to  the  government  for  fully  fifty  years, 
and  the  only  one  in  the  colony  for  thirty  years. 


OUTLINE  HISTORY,  1009-1830.  17 

organ,  and  they  persuaded  John  Peter  Zenger,*  who  had  been  an 
apprentice  with  Bradford  and  his  business  partner  for  a  while,  to  estab- 
lish an  opposition  newspaper.  lie  did  so  in  November,  1733,  giving  it 
the  title  of  the  New  York  Weekly  Journal.  Van  Dam,  who  was  a 
leading  merchant,  stood  behind  Zenger  as  his  financial  supporter. 

This  organ  of  the  democratic  party  made  vigorous  war  upon  the 
governor  and  his  political  friends,  and  finally  it  charged  him  and  them 
with  violating  the  rights  of  the  people,  the  assumption  of  tyrannical 
power,  and  the  perversion  of  their  official  stations  for  selfish  purposes. 
When  they  could  not  answer  nor  endure  these  attacks  any  longer, 
Zenger  w  as  arrested  on  a  charge  of  libelling  the  government,  and  the 
council  ordered  his  papers  containing  these  alleged  libels  to  be  burned 
by  the  common  hangman. 

After  lying  in  jail  several  months  Zenger  was  brought  to  trial. 
Meanwhile  a  republican  association  called  4i  Sons  of  Liberty"  worked 
assiduously  for  Zenger,  and  his  friends  employed  the  venerable  Andrew 
Hamilton  of  Philadelphia,  then  eighty  years  of  age  and  the  foremost 
lawyer  in  the  colonies,  as  the  prisoner's  counsel.  The  case  excited 
widespread  interest  and  attention,  for  it  involved  the  great  question  of 
liberty  of  speech  and  of  the  press. 

At  that  famous  trial  Chief-Justice  De  Lance}'  presided.  The  court- 
room was  crowded.  The  citizens  generally  sympathized  with  Zenger. 
The  prisoner  pleaded  "  Not  guilty.*'  admitted  the  publication  of  the 
alleged  libel,  and  offered  full  proof  of  its  justification.  The  attorney- 
general  rose  to  oppose  the  admission  of  such  proofs.  At  that  moment 
the  venerable  Hamilton  entered  the  room.  Pumors  had  gone  abroad 
that  he  would  be  there.  The  multitude  rose  to  their  feet  and  welcomed 
him  with  waving  of  hats  and  loud  huzzas.  With  his  long  white  hair 
Mowing  over  his  shoulders,  this  Nestor  of  the  bar  in  a  few  eloquent 
words  scattered  all  the  legal  sophistries  of  the  prosecution  to  the  winds. 
He  declared  that  the  jury  were  themselves  judges  of  the  facts  and  the 
law  ;  that  they  were  a  part  of  the  court  ;  that  they  were  competent  to 
judge  of  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the  accused  ;  and  he  reminded  them 

*  John  Peter  Zenger  was  a  German,  a  son  of  a  widow  among  the  Palatines  who  came 
to  New  York  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne.  He  was  apprenticed  to  William  Bradford, 
the  printer,  became  his  partner,  and  in  1733  began  a  weekly  newspaper  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  called  the  Weekly  Journal.  For  some  strictures  on  the  conduct  of  the 
governor,  Zenger  was  prosecuted  for  a  libel,  and  was  imprisoned  thirty-five  weeks.  His 
trial  was  a  famous  one.  He  was  defended  by  the  great  lawyer,  Andrew  Hamilton  of 
Philadelphia,  and  was  acquitted.  His  acquittal  was  regarded  as  a  vindication  of  the 
freedom  of  the  press.    Zenger  died  in  New  York  in  1746. 


18 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


that  they  were  the  sworn  protectors  of  the  rights,  liberties,  and  privi- 
leges of  their  fellow-citizens,  which,  in  this  instance,  had  been  violated 
by  a  most  outrageous  and  vindictive  series  of  persecutions.  The  chief- 
justice's  charge  to  the  jury  was  wholly  averse  to  this  doctrine  of  the 
great  advocate,  but  after  a  brief  conference  they  returned  a  verdict  of 
"  Not  guilty."  A  shout  of  triumph  went  up  from  the  multitude,  and 
Hamilton  was  borne  from  the  court-room  upon  the  shoulders  of  the 
people  to  an  entertainment  prepared  for  him.  The  citizens  gave  him  a 
public  dinner  the  next  day,  and  a  few  weeks  later  the  corporation  of 
New  York  gave  Hamilton  their  thanks  and  the  freedom  of  the  city  in 
a  gold  box.  He  had  served  a  righteous  cause  without  a  fee,  because  it 
was  a  righteous  cause. 

To  the  city  of  New  York  is  due  the  imperishable  honor  of  first  vindi- 
cating the  freedom  of  the  press  in  the  English-American  colonies,  and 
it  has  ever  maintained  the  exalted  position  of  a  champion  of  liberty  and 
the  rights  of  man  under  all  circumstances. 

The  population,  industries,  and  wealth  of  New  York  City  had  rapidly 
increased  since  the  beginning  of  the  century.  In  about  thirty  years 
the  population  had  expanded  from  live  thousand  to  almost  nine  thou- 
sand. Already  the  shipping  employed  in  trade  gave  the  city  the  char- 
acter of  a  commercial  metropolis,  and  its  merchants  were  noted  for 
enterprise,  intelligence,  wealth,  and  probity.  For  a  while  they  had 
serious  difficulties  to  contend  with.  At  the  close  of  the  seventeenth 
century  the  ocean  swarmed  with  pirates.  They  entered  the  harbor  of 
New  York  and  seized  vessels  lying  at  anchor.  It  is  believed  that  men 
in  high  official  station  there  were  confederated  with  the  buccaneers, 
shared  their  booty,  and  shielded  them  from  punishment.  Finally  a 
worthy  shipmaster  of  New  York,  Captain  Kidd,'*  was  employed  by  a 

*  William  Kidd  was  a  prominent  shipmaster  in  New  York  at  the  close  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.  His  wife  was  Sarah  Oort.  Kidd  was  the  son  of  a  Scotch  Nonconformist 
minister,  and  had  followed  the  sea  from  his  youth.  He  was  regarded  as  the  boldest  and 
most  enterprising  mariner  of  New  York,  about  10595,  when  he  was  appointed  captain  of  a 
privateer,  owned  by  King  William,  Governor  Bellomont,  Robert  Livingston,  and  several 
of  the  English  nobility,  and  was  fitted  out  for  the  suppression  of  piracy.  He  received 
his  commission  from  King  William.  He  sailed  in  the  Adventure  Galley  from  Plymouth, 
England,  in  lfiOG,  for  the  Indian  seas,  where,  after  scattering  the  pirates,  he  became  one 
himself,  or  rather  was  compelled  by  his  crew  to  become  the  commander  of  a  pirate  ship. 
He  returned  to  New  York  with  large  booty  in  1698.  The  piratical  partners  of  the  Adven- 
ture Galley  raised  such  a  hubbub  in  England,  that  her  owners,  to  escape  the  odium  of 
Kidd's  conduct,  made  him  a  scapegoat.  With  virtuous  pretensions  Lord  Pellomont 
caused  Kidd's  arrest  on  the  charge  of  piracy  and  murder.  He  was  convicted  and  hanged 
at  Plymouth,  England,  on  May  24,  1701.  The  charge  of  piracy  was  not  proven,  and 
the  killing  for  which  he  suffered  was  undoubtedly  accidental. 


OUTLINE  HISTORY,  1G09-1830. 


19 


company  to  disperse  or  destroy  the  pirates.  He  succeeded,  but  finally, 
through  great  temptation,  he  turned  pirate  himself  in  distant  seas,  and 
was  hanged  in  England,  an  unfortunate  scapegoat  for  his  more  guilty 
titled  confederates. 

Intellectual  forces  of  much  strength  were  early  at  work  in  the  city  of 
New  York.  The  third  printing-press  in  the  English-American  colonics 
was  set  up  there  by  William  Bradford,  and  in  1093  he  printed  the 
laws  of  the  colony  in  a  small  folio  volume.  This  was  the  first  publica- 
tion of  a  book  in  that  city,  where  millions  are  now  issued  every  year. 

Episcopacy  had  been  made  the  leading  ecclesiastical  system  in  New 
York  by  the  fiat  of  royal  governors,  and  on  the  establishment  of 
Trinity  Church,  in  1090,  public  worship  was  conducted  in  the  English 
language  instead  of  the  Dutch,  excepting  in  the  Reformed  Dutch 
Church.  Trinity  Church  edifice — a  small,  square  structure  with  a  very 
tall  spire — was  completed  in  1097,  and  in  1703  Queen  Anne  granted  to 
it  the  "  King's  Farm"  on  the  west  side  of  Broadway — the  famous 
"  Trinity  Church  property"  claimed  by  the  alleged  heirs  of  Annetye 
Jans-Bogardus. 

The  first  attempt  had  been  made  in  1097  to  light  the  streets  of  New 
York  by  hanging  a  lantern  from  a  pole  projecting  from  a  window  in 
every  seventh  house.  A  night  watch  of  four  men  had  been  established 
at  the  same  time,  and  two  men  were  appointed  to  inspect  the  hearths 
and  chimneys  of  the  six  hundred  houses  in  the  city  once  a  week.  A 
public  ferry  between  New  York  and  Long  Island  had  been  established 
by  the  city  authorities,  and  in  1707  Broadway  had  been  first  paved 
from  the  Bowling  Green  to  Trinitv  Church.  In  17<>9  it  was  levelled  as 
far  as  Maiden  Lane.  In  that  year  a  slave-market  had  been  established 
on  the  site  of  the  old  block-house  at  the  foot  of  Wall  Street,  where 
most  of  the  shipping  was  moored.  Rigorous  municipal  laws  concerning 
the  slaves  were  strictly  administered,  which  caused  occasional  out- 
breaks. 

The  first  hospital  for  the  poor  had  been  established  in  1099,  and  in 
L705  the  first  grammar  school  in  New  York  had  been  authorized,  but 
was  not  established  for  some  time  because  a  competent  teacher  could 
not  be  found  in  the  city.  The  first  Presbyterian  church  built  in  the 
city  had  been  erected  in  1719,  on  Wall  Street  near  the  City  Hall  ;  and 
the  previous  year  the  first  ropewalk  in  New  York — the  beginning  of  a 
very  flourishing  industry — had  been  set  up  on  Broadway  between  Bar- 
clay Street  and  Park  Place. 

Public  matters  in  New  York  had  presented  no  phase  of  special 
importance  until  the  arrival  of  John  Montgomerie  as  governor  in  the 


20 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


spring  of  1T2S,  when  he  was  received  with  more  cordiality  and  granted 
more  favors  than  any  other  magistrate  since  Bellomont.  The  chief 
event  of  his  administration  was  the  granting  an  amended  charter  for 
the  city  in  173u.  The  first  charter  given  to  the  city  under  English 
rule  had  been  granted  in  1686.  Others  have  been  granted  from  time 
to  time.  By  the  new  charter  the  limits  of  the  city  wex*e  fixed  ;  the 
power  of  establishing  lerries,  and  the  possession  of  the  ferries,  market- 
houses,  docks,  etc.,  and  all  profits  arising  from  them,  were  granted  to 
the  city.  Provision  was  made  for  the  establishment  of  courts,  and  the 
privileges  and  duties  of  all  public  officers  were  defined.  The  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  city  was  lixed  to  begin  at  the  King's  Bridge,  near  the  upper 
extremity  of  the  island,  extending  to  Long  Island,  including  small 
islands  at  the  mouth  of  the  Harlem  River,  thence  on  that  side  of  the 
East  River  to  Red  Hook,  and  thence,  embracing  the  islands  in  the 
harbor,  up  the  Hudson  River  to  Spuyten  Duyvel  Creek  to  the  place  of 
beyinninof. 

While  this  charter  gave  the  authorities  of  the  city  of  New  York 
jurisdiction  over  the  whole  of  Manhattan  Island  and  adjacent  islands, 
the  streets  of  the  city  were  laid  out  only  as  far  north  on  the  west  side  as 
Courtlandt  Street  on  the  border  of  the  King's  Farm,  and  on  the  east 
side  as  far  as  Frankfort  and  Cherry  Streets.  There  were  only  scat- 
tered houses  above  Maiden  Lane.  But  the  city  was  then  so  densely 
populated  below  Wall  Street  that  in  1729  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church, 
in  Garden  Street  below  Wall,  was  so  crowded  that  a  portion  of  the 
congregation  colonized  and  built  the  "  Middle  Dutch  Church,"  on  the 
corner  of  Nassau  and  Liberty  Streets,  used  (until  a  few  years  ago)  for 
the  city  Post-Office  for  many  years.  Wall  Street  had  been  so  named 
because  along  its  line,  from  river  to  river,  had  extended  the  pahsades 
or  wooden  walls  of  the  city  of  New  Amsterdam. 

Pauperism  became  prevalent  and  troublesome  during  Montgomerie's 
administration,  and  measures  were  taken  for  providing  a  public  alms- 
house, which  should  also  be  a  workhouse.  One  was  erected  in  the  rear 
of  the  present  City  Hall  in  1734.  It  was  well  supplied  -with  spinning- 
wheels  for  the  women  and  shoemakers'  tools  and  other  implements  of 
labor  for  the  men.    It  was  made  a  sort  of  self-sustaining  institution. 

Nothing  of  special  public  importance  occurred  in  the  city  of  New  York 
after  the  trial  of  Zenger  until  1741,  when  the  famous  "  Negro  Plot" 
produced  a  reign  of  terror  there  for  some  time.  A  similar  occurrence, 
but  ol  smaller  proportions,  had  taken  place  in  1712,  when  the  popula- 
tion of  the  city  was  about  six  thousand,  composed  largely  of  slaves. 
There  was  a  suspicion  of  a  conspiracy  of  the  negroes  to  burn  the  city 


OUTLINE  HISTORY,  1609-1830. 


21 


and  destroy  the  inhabitants.  During  the  panic  that  prevailed  nineteen 
slaves  suspected  of  the  crime  perished. 

In  1741  a  suspected  negro  plot  to  destroy  the  city  and  its  inhabitants 
produced  great  disaster.  New  York  then  contained  about  ten  thousand 
inhabitants,  nearly  one  fifth  of  Avhom  were  negro  slaves.  The  city 
literally  swarmed  with  them.  There  were  growing  apprehensions 
among  the  people  of  a  servile  insurrection.  The  slave-market  was  at 
the  foot  of  Wall  Street  ;  the  calaboose  was  in  the  "  common"  or  City 
Hall  Park.  The  slaves  were  under  rigorous  discipline,  and  were  keenly 
watched  as  apprehensions  of  danger  from  them  increased. 

In  the  early  spring  of  17-11  some  goods  and  silver  were  stolen  from  a 
merchant.  Suspicion  fell  upon  the  keeper  of  a  low  tavern  to  which 
negroes  and  thieves  resorted,  but  on  searching  the  police  found  noth- 
ing. A  maid-servant  of  the  publican  told  a  neighbor  that  the  goods 
were  there,  and  very  soon  she,  her  master,  and  his  family  were  brought 
before  the  court.  Then  the  servant  accused  a  negro  with  being  the 
thief  and  his  master  the  receiver  of  the  stolen  goods.  A  part  of  the 
property  was  found  under  his  master's  kitchen  floor  and  returned  to 
the  owner,  and  here  the  matter  rested  for  a  while. 

Two  or  three  weeks  later  the  governor's  house  in  the  fort  was  laid  in 
ashes.  Within  a  few  days  afterward  other  fires  in  different  parts  of 
the  city  occurred.  These  fires,  breaking  out  in  such  rapid  succession, 
alarmed  the  people,  and  a  rumor  that  the  negroes  had  plotted  to  burn 
the  city  took  wing  and  flew  to  every  dwelling  in  the  course  of  a  few 
hours.  For  several  days  the  slaves  had  been  suspected  of  meditating 
the  crime  ;  now  suspicion  was  changed  to  confirmation. 

It  was  now  noted  that  a  Spanish  vessel,  manned  in  part  by  negroes, 
had  recently  been  brought  into  port  as  a  prize,  and  the  black  men  had 
been  sold  at  auction  for  slaves.  They  were  naturally  exasperated  by 
this  inhuman  treatment,  and  had  let  fall  some  stifled  threats.  No  one 
now  doubted  that  these  desperate  fellows  were  leaders  in  the  horrid 
plot.  There  was  a  general  cry  of  "  Arrest  the  Spanish  negroes  !" 
They  were  seized  and  cast  into  prison.  On  the  same  afternoon  the 
magistrates  met,  and  while  they  were  in  consultation  the  storehouse  of 
Colonel  Phillipse  was  discovered  to  be  on  fire.  Magistrates  and  people 
were  panic-stricken,  for  the  busy  tongue  of  rumor  positively  declared 
the  negroes  were  about  to  fire  the  city,  murder  the  inhabitants,  and 
possess  themselves  of  their  masters'  property.  Negroes  were  seized 
indiscriminately,  and  very  soon  the  prisons  were  filled  with  them. 

The  Common  Council  offered  a  reward  of  one  hundred  pounds  and  a 
full  pardon  to  any  conspirator  who  should  reveal  the  plot  and  the 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


names  of  the  incendiaries.  The  imprisoned  servant  of  the  tavern- 
keeper  spoken  of  took  advantage  of  this  offer  to  gain  her  liberty  and 
fill  her  parse,  and  told  a  most  ridiculous  story  of  negroes  whom  she 
named  bringing  stolen  goods  to  her  master,  and  talking  about  their 
design  to  burn  the  city  and  destroy  the  inhabitants,  and  the  riches  and 
power  they  would  possess  afterward.  The  excited  and  credulous  mag- 
istrates received  this  absurd  story  as  truth,  and  persons  arrested  were 
induced  to  make  all  sorts  of  confessions  in  the  hope  of  averting  danger 
to  themselves.  There  was  a  reign  of  terror  throughout  the  city.  The 
victims  of  the  lying  servant's  pretended  revelations  were  imprisoned, 
tried,  condemned,  and  executed.  Among  these  were  her  master  and 
his  wife.  On  her  testimony  alone  many  negroes  were  from  time  to 
time  accused  and  imprisoned,  and  in  May  several  of  them  were  burned 
alive  in  a  green  vale  on  the  site  of  the  (present)  Five  Points.  In  June 
others  were  banned,  and  before  the  middle  of  August  one  hundred  and 
fifty-four  negroes  and  twenty-four  white  people  had  been  imprisoned. 
Of  these  four  white  persons  were  hanged  ;  fourteen  negroes  were 
burned  alive,  eighteen  were  hanged,  and  seventy-one  were  transported. 
The  last  victim  was  Ury,  a  schoolmaster,  who  was  accused  by  the  lying 
servant  (Mary  Burton)  of  being  concerned  in  the  plot.  lie  was  sus- 
pected of  being  a  Roman  Catholic  priest.  The  bigoted  magistrates 
took  advantage  of  an  old  unrepealed  law  for  hanging  any  priest  who 
should  voluntarily  come  into  the  province,  and  Ury  Avas  doomed. 
They  seemed  to  be  hungry  for  his  life.  In  vain  he  offered  to  prove 
that  he  was  a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England.  Mary  Burton  w;is 
considered  infallible,  and  poor  Ury  was  hanged.  Then  the  "  state's 
witness"  became  bolder,  and  accused  "  persons  of  quality  ;"  and,  as  in 
the  case  of  "  Salem  witchcraft,"  when  leading  citizens,  who  had  been 
active  in  persecuting  the  poor  negroes,  were  implicated,  men  took  meas- 
ures to  end  the  tragedy — "  stop  the  delusion."  It  was  done,  and  the 
24th  of  September  was  set  apart  as  a  day  of  thanksgiving  for  the  great 
deliverance.  The  "  Negro  Plot"  imrv  be  classed  among  the  foremost 
of  popular  delusions. 

It  was  at  about  this  time  that  a  few  men  Avho  played  important  parts 
in  the  social  and  political  drama  of  the  city  of  New  York  appeared 
conspicuous  upon  the  stage  —  Dr.  Cadwallader  Golden,  James  De 
Lancey,  Philip  Livingston,  Peter  Schuyler,  Abraham  De  Peyster, 
Frederick  Phillipse,  William  Smith  the  elder,  and  a  few  others.  Some 
of  these,  like  Colden,  were  lovers  of  science  and  literature.  So 
absorbed  in  trade,  and  in  efforts  to  increase  the  wealth  and  material 
property  of  themselves  and  the  city  had  the  citizens  become,  that  edu- 


OUTLINE  HISTORY,  1609-1830. 


23 


cation  was  neglected.  Some  of  these  gentlemen  clearly  perceived  the 
evils  to  be  feared  from  such  a  want,  and  set  about  supplying  it.  There 
wore  then  but  few  collegians  in  the  province  ;  Messrs.  Smith  and  De 
Lancey  were  the  only  ones  in  the  legal  profession.  There  was  a  small 
public  library,  but  it  was  little  used.  The  chaplain  of  Lord  Bellomont 
(Rev.  John  Sharp)  had  presented  to  the  city  a  collection  of  books  in 
1700,  for  a  "  Corporation  Library,"  and  in  1729  the  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts  added  to  these,  for  the 
same  purpose,  H>22  volumes,  which  had  been  given  to  them  by  Rev. 
John  Millington,  of  England.  The  first  librarian  appointed  died  ;  the 
books  were  neglected,  and  their  very  existence  was  almost  forgotten 
until  1754,  when  some  public-spirited  citizens  organized  and  founded 
the  "  Society  Library."  The  Common  Council  added  the  "  Corpora- 
tion Library"  to  the  institution,  and  for  several  years  the  books  of  the 
Society  Library  were  kept  in  the  City  Hall. 

Meanwhile  £2250  had  been  raised  by  lottery  for  the  foundation  of  a 
college.  This  sum  was  increased,  and  in  1754  King's  (now  Columbia) 
College  was  chartered.  Sectarianism  was  then  rampant  in  the  city, 
and  there  was  a  sharp  struggle  for  the  denominational  control  of  the 
institution  between  the  Episcopalians,  headed  by  James  De  Lancey,  and 
the  Presbyterians,  led  by  Philip  Livingston.  The  former  gained  the 
mastery. 

In  1752  the  fh-st  merchants'  exchange  in  New  York  was  erected  at 
the  foot  of  Broad  Street.  Beekman  Street  was  opened  the  same  year, 
and  St.  George's  Chapel  was  erected  on  it  by  Trinity  Church  corpora- 
tion. 

This  period  in  the  history  of  the  city  of  New  York  is  particularly 
distinguished  for  political  and  theological  controversies.  The  lines  be- 
tween sects  in  religion  and  politics  were  sharply  drawn.  Bigotry  and 
intolerance  were  rampant.  The  Jews  had  been  allowed  to  establish  a 
cemetery  near  the  present  Chatham  Square,  east  side  ;  now  they  were 
disfranchised.  The  Moravians,  who  closely  resembled  the  Episco- 
palians in  the  form  of  their  liturgical  worship,  and  who  had  built  a, 
church  on  Fair  (now  Fulton)  Street  *  and  established  a  mission  in 
Duchess  County,  were  persecuted  as  Jesuits  in  disguise.  In  the  colonial 
assembly  political  controversies  became  bitter.  This  bitterness  was 
augmented  by  the  conduct  of  the  royal  governor,  Admiral  Sir  George 
Clinton,  who  speedily  made  himself  unpopular  with  the  leaders  of  all 


*  On  the  west  side  of  Broadway  it  was  called  Partition  Street,  the  partition  line 
between  the  King's  Farm  and  others. 


24 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


parties.  His  best  supporter  at  the  beginning  of  bis  administration 
was  Chief-Justice  De  Lancey.  Clinton  soon  offended  him  and  allied 
himself  to  Dr.  Colden,*  who  was  then  a  power  in  the  province  ;  but 
De  Lancey,  who  was  more  prominent  socially  and  politically  than 
Colden,  made  war  upon  the  governor.  lie  engendered  a  fierce  contest 
between  Clinton  and  the  assembly.  The  governor  soon  offended 
Colden,  who  joined  the  opposition.  At  length  the  admiral,  wearied 
with  the  contest  and  becoming  more  and  more  unpopular,  left  the  office, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Sir  Danvers  Osborne. 

At  the  first  meeting  of  his  council  Osborne  laid  his  instructions  before 
them,  when  they  said,  "The  assembly  will  never  yield  obedience." 
"  Is  this  true  i"  he  asked  William  Smith.  "  Most  emphatically," 
replied  the  councillor.  "  Then  what  am  I  come  here  for  ?"  said 
Osborne  musingly.  The  next  morning  his  dead  body  was  found  sus- 
pended by  a  handkerchief  from  the  garden  wall  of  his  lodgings.  He 
had  destroyed  himself  in  despair.  James  De  Lancey, f  the  lieutenant- 
governor,  assumed  the  direction  of  public  affairs.  The  political  leaders 
had  zealous  partisans  among  the  citizens,  and  Xew  York  for  many 
years  was  a  seething  caldron  of  adverse  opinions. 

The  quarrel  of  De  Lancey  with  Clinton  \  had  caused  the  former  to 

*  Cadwallader  Colden  was  a  native  of  Scotland  ;  was  born  at  Dunse,  February  17, 
1G88,  graduated  from  the  University  of  Edinburgh  in  1705,  and  in  1708  emigrated  to 
America,  and  died  at  his  country  seat  on  Long  Island,  September  28,  1770.  He  was 
a  physician  and  skilful  mathematician.  He  practised  medicine  in  Pennsylvania  a  few 
years,  and  went  to  England  in  1715.  The  next  year,  after  visiting  Scotland,  he  returned 
to  Pennsylvania,  but  at  the  request  of  Governor  Hunter  settled  in  New  York  in  1718, 
when  he  was  appointed  surveyor-general,  a  master  in  chancery,  and  in  1720  a  member 
of  the  King's  Council.  Obtaining  a  patent  for  lands  in  Orange  County,  he  settled  there. 
He  was  acting  governor  of  New  York  from  1700  until  his  death.  During  the  Stamp  Act 
excitement  in  New  York  in  17G5,  the  populace  destroyed  his  carriage  and  burned  him  in 
effigy.  When  Governor  Tryon  returned  to  New  York  in  1775,  Colden  retired  to  Long 
Island.    He  wrote  a  history  of  the  Five  Nations  of  Indians. 

\  James  De  Lancey  was  born  in  New  York  in  1703,  the  son  of  a  Huguenot  emigrant 
from  Caen,  Normandy.  He  was  educated  at  Cambridge,  England,  and  returned  to 
America  in  1720,  soon  after  which  he  was  made  a  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  New 
York.  In  1733  he  was  elevated  to  the  seat  of  chief  justice.  De  Lancey  was  acting  gov- 
ernor for  nearly  seven  years,  from  1753  to  17G0.  He  was  an  astute  lawyer,  a  sagacious 
legislator,  a  skilful  intriguer,  and  a  demagogue  of  great  influence  and  political  strength. 
These  qualities  and  vast  estates  secured  to  him  triumphs  when  most  other  men  would 
have  failed. 

\  Admiral  George  Clinton  was  governor  of  New  York  for  ten  years— 17-43-1753.  He 
was  the  youngest  son  of  the  sixth  Earl  of  Lincoln,  and  was  appointed  commodore  and 
governor  of  Newfoundland  in  1732.  His  administration  in  New  York  was  a  stormy  one, 
for  he  did  not  possess  qualifications  for  the  position,  or  any  skill  in  civil  affairs.  He 
found  in  De  Lancey  a  most  annoying  opponent.    Colden  was  Clinton's  champion  on  all 


OUTLINE  HISTORY,  1G09-1830. 


25 


oppose  the  governor's  unpopular  schemes,  and  so  made  himself  a  favor- 
ite with  the  people.  The  representative  "  aristocrat"  became,  by  the 
legerdemain  of  party  politics,  the  representative  "democrat"  of  the 
hour  ;  and  the  late  royalist  faction,  composed  of  the  wealthiest  and 
most  influential  citizens,  was  now  arrayed  on  the  side  of  the  people's 
rights.  But  De  Lancey  found  it  difficult  to  maintain  that  position  and 
render  obedience  to  royal  instructions,  lie  was  soon  relieved  of  the 
embarrassment  by  the  arrival  of  Admiral  Hardy  as  governor,  Avhen  De 
Lancey  resumed  his  seat  as  chief  justice.  He  soon  afterward  became 
acting  governor  again,  and  was  performing  its  duties  when,  on  the 
morning  of  July  30,  1700,  he  was  found  dying  in  his  study,  the  victim 
of  chronic  asthma. 

The  French  and  Indian  war  then  in  progress  had  taxed  the  patriot- 
ism and  the  resources  in  men  and  money  of  the  citizens  of  New  Fork. 
The  war  was  raging  on  the  northern  frontier  of  their  province,  and 
they  cheerfully  and  generously  responded  to  every  reasonable  call.  At 
the  same  time,  jealous  of  their  political  rights,  they  warmly  resented 
any  violation  of  them.  Lord  Loudoun,  the  commander  of  the  British 
forces  in  America,  sent  a  thousand  troops  to  the  city  of  New  York  with 
orders  for  the  authorities  to  billet  them  upon  the  inhabitants.  This 
was  an  infraction  of  their  rights.  The  city  authorities  quartered  the 
soldiers  in  the  barracks  on  Chambers  Street,  leaving  the  officers  to 
take  care  of  themselves.  The  angry  Loudoun  hastened  to  New  York 
and  commanded  the  authorities  to  find  free  quarters  for  the  officers, 
and  threatened  if  it  were  not  done  he  would  bring  all  the  soldiers  under 
his  command  and  billet  them  upon  the  inhabitants  himself.  The  gov- 
ernor was  disposed  to  comply,  but  the  indignant  people  refused,  and 
defied  the  general.  The  matter  was  finally  adjusted,  to  avert  serious 
trouble,  by  furnishing  free  quarters  to  the  officers  by  means  of  a  pri- 
vate subscription.  This  demand  was  afterward  several  times  repeated, 
and  was  one  of  the  principal  grievances  which  impelled  the  citizens  of 
New  York  to  armed  resistance  to  royal  authority. 

On  the  accession  of  George  III.  in  1700,  followed  by  ministerial 
schemes  for  burdening  colonial  commerce  with  restrictions,  the  murmurs 
of  the  king's  subjects  in  America,  which  had  been  heard  in  almost  in- 
audible whispers  by  his  immediate  predecessors,  became  loud  and 
menacing.  As  occasions  for  complaint  multiplied,  the  colonists  showed 
symptoms  of  absolute  resistance  to  acts  of  Parliament,  and  in  this  none 

occasions.  Clinton  was  made  vice-admiral  of  the  rear  in  1745,  and  vice-admiral  of  the 
fleet  in  17-37.    He  died  governor  of  Newfoundland  in  17G1. 


26 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


were  more  prompt  and  defiant  than  the  citizens  of  New  York.  Unwise 
and  oppressive  navigation  laws  were  put  in  force,  and  these  weighed 
heavily  upon  New  York,  then  become  a  decidedly  commercial  city. 
These  laws  were  at  first  mildly  resisted.  The  collectors  of  customs 
finally  called  for  aid,  and  writs  of  assistance  were  issued,  by  which 
these  officers  or  their  deputies  might  enter  every  house  they  pleased, 
break  locks  and  bars  if  necessary  in  search  of  dutiable  goods,  and  in 
this  way  become  the  violators  of  the  great  principles  of  Magna  Charta, 
which  made  every  Englishman's  house  his  "castle."  These  writs 
were  denounced  everywhere,  and  were  followed  soon  afterward  by  the 
famous  and  obnoxious  Stamp  Act,  which  required  every  piece  of  paper, 
parchment,  or  vellum  containing  a  legal  document,  such  as  a  promis- 
sory note  or  a  marriage  certificate,  to  have  a  stamp  affixed  upon  it,  for 
which  a  specified  sum  was  to  be  paid  to  the  government  of  Great 
Britain. 

This  indirect  system  of  taxation  was  very  offensive,  and  the  scheme 
was  stoutly  opposed  everywhere  on  the  continent,  but  nowhere  with 
more  firmness  than  in  the  city  of  New  York.  Dr.  Golden,  then  nearly 
eighty  years  of  age,  was  acting  governor  of  the  province,  and  duty  to 
his  sovereign  and  his  own  political  convictions  compelled  him  to  oppose 
the  popular  movements  around  him.  When,  late  in  October  (1705), 
Stamps  arrived  at  New  York  consigned  to  a  "  stamp  distributor,"  the 
"  Sons  of  Liberty,"  recently  reorganized,  demanded  that  agent's  resig- 
nation ;  Colden  upheld  and  protected  him,  and  had  the  stamps  placed 
in  the  fort.    This  covert  menace  exasperated  the  people. 

Though  British  ships  of  war  riding  in  the  harbor,  as  Avellas  the  fort, 
had  their  great  guns  trained  upon  the  city,  the  patriots  were  not  dis- 
mayed, and  appearing  in  considerable  number  before  the  governor's 
house  at  the  fort,  demanded  the  stamps.  The  demand  was  refused, 
and  very  soon  the  large  group  of  orderly  citizens  was  swelled  into  a 
roaring  mob.  They  bore  to  The  Fields  (the  City  Hall  Park)  an  effigy 
of  the  governor,  which  they  burned  on  the  spot  where  Leisler  was 
hanged  three  fourths  of  a  century  before  because  he  was  a  republican. 
Then  they  hastened  back  to  the  foot  of  Broadway,  tore  up  the  wooden 
railing  around  the  Bowling  Green,  piled  it  up  in  front  of  the  fort, 
dragged  the  governor's  coach  out  and  cast  it  upon  the  heap,  and  made 
a  huge  bonfire  of  the  whole.  After  committing  other  excesses,  and 
parading  the  streets  with  a  banner  inscribed  "  England's  Folly  and 
America's  Ruin,"  they  dispersed  to  their  homes. 

Earlier  in  the  same  month  a  colonial  convention  known  as  the 
"  Stamp  Act  Congress"  assembled  in  New  York,  discussed  the  rights 


OUTLINE  HISTORY,  1609-1830. 


27 


of  the  colonists,  and  adopted  a  Declaration  of  Rights,  a  Petition  to  the 
King,  and  a  Memorial  to  both  Houses  of  Parliament.  Already  the 
idea  of  union  had  been  suggested  by  a  newspaper  called  the  Constitu- 
tional Con  rant,  bearing  the  device  of  a  snake  separated  into  several 
parts,  each  with  an  initial  of  a  colony,  and  bearing  the  injunction,  Join 
ob  Dik  !  Only  one  issue  of  the  Courant  was  made,  but  its  suggestion 
was  potent.  The  idea  of  the  device  was  like  an  electric  spark  that 
kindled  a  flame  which  was  never  quenched.  The  merchants  of  New 
York  immediately  "joined"  in  creating  a  Committee  of  Correspond- 
ence instructed  to  solicit  the  merchants  of  other  cities  to  join  with  them 
in  a  solemn  agreement  not  to  import  any  more  goods  from  Great  Britain 
until  the  Stamp  Act  should  be  repealed.  There  was  general  acquies- 
cence. This  measure  produced  a  powerful  impression  upon  the  com- 
mercial interests  of  Great  Britain.  The  people  at  the  centres  of  trade 
there  clamored  for  a  repeal  of  the  obnoxious  act,  and  in  the  course 
of  three  months  this  much-desired  measure  was  effected.  Then  the 
citizens  of  New  York,  in  the  plenitude  of  their  gratitude  and  joy, 
caused  a  leaden  equestrian  statue  of  the  king  to  be  erected  in  the  centre 
of  the  Bowling  Green,  and  a  marble  one  to  Pitt  (who  had  effected  the 
repeal)  in  the  attitude  of  an  orator,  at  the  junction  of  "Wall  and  William 
Streets. 

To  New  York  merchants  is  due  the  honor  of  having  invented  those 
two  powerful  engines  of  resistance  to  the  obnoxious  acts  of  the  British 
Parliament,  and  with  so  much  potency  at  the  beginning  of  the  old  war 
for  independence — namely,  the  Committee  of  Correspondence  and  the 
Non-itn portation  League. 


chapter  in. 


FROM  the  period  of  the  Stamp  Act  until  the  beginning  of  the  old 
war  for  independence,  in  1775,  the  merchants  of  New  York  bore 
a  conspicuous  part  in  political  events  tending  toward  independence. 
They  were  leading  "  Sons  of  Liberty."  For  a  while  the  liberal  char- 
acter of  the  administration  of  the  new  governor,  Sir  Henry  Moore,* 
allayed  excitements  and  animosities  ;  but  the  stubborn  king  and  stupid 
ministry,  utterly  unable  to  comprehend  the  character  of  the  American 
people  and  the  loftiness  of  the  principles  which  animated  them,  con- 
tinued to  vex  them  with  obnoxious  schemes  of  taxation,  and  kept  them 
in  a  state  of  constant  irritation. 

Before  the  echoes  of  the  repeal  rejoicings  had  died  away,  troops 
were  sent  to  New  York,  and  under  the  provisions  of  the  Mutiny  Act 
they  Avere  to  be  quartered  at  the  partial  expense  of  the  province.  They 
Avere  sent  as  a  menace  and  as  a  check  to  the  growth  of  republican  ideas 
among  the  people  there.  Led  by  the  Sons  of  Liberty,  the  inhabitants 
resolved  to  resist  the  measure  for  their  enslavement.  The  Provincial 
Assembly  steadily  refused  compliance  Avith  the  terms  of  the  Mutiny 
Act,  and  early  in  17<>7  Parliament  passed  an  act  prohibiting  the  gov- 
ernor  and  Legislature  of  New  York  passing  any  bill  for  any  purpose 
whatever.  The  assembly  partially  yielded,  but  a  new  assembly,  con- 
vened early  in  17<!S,  stoutly  held  an  attitude  of  defiance,  and  the  colony 
Avas  made  to  feel  the  royal  displeasure.  Put  the  assembly  remained 
faithful  to  the  cause  of  liberty  down  to  the  death  of  GoATernor  Moore, 
in  17»i!>.  Then  Dr.  Colden  again  became  acting  governor,  and  an  un- 
natural  coalition  was  formed  between  him  and  James  De  Lancey,  son  of 
Peter  De  Lancey,  who  was  a  leader  of  the  aristocracy  in  the  assembly. 

Meanwhile  the  city  had  been  almost  continually  disquieted  by  the 
insolent  bearing  and  outrageous  conduct  of  the  troops,  who  Avere 

*  Sir  Henry  Moore  was  a  native  of  Jamaica,  W.  L,  where  he  was  born  in  1713.  He 
became  governor  of  his  native  island  in  1750,  and  was  created  a  baronet  as  a  reward  for 
his  services  in  suppressing  a  slave  insurrection  there.  From  17G4  until  his  death,  in 
September,  17fi0,  he  was  governor  of  New  York.  He  arrived  in  New  York  in  the  midst 
of  the  Stamp  Act  excitement  in  17G5,  and  acted  very  judiciously. 


OUTLINE  HISTORY,  1609-1830. 


29 


encouraged  by  their  officers.  On  the  king's  birthday,  in  17<if>,  the 
citizens,  grateful  for  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act,  celebrated  it  with 
great  rejoicing.  On  that  occasion  they  erected  a  flagstaff  which  bore 
the  words  "The  King,  Pitt,  and  Liberty."  They  called  it  a  Libert;/ 
Pole,  and  it  became  the  rallying-place  for  the  Sons  of  Liberty.  This 
New  York  idea  became  popular,  and  liberty  poles  soon  arose  in  other 
provinces  as  rallying-places  for  political  gatherings  of  the  patriots. 
When  the  soldiers  came  to  New  York  this  pole  became  an  object  of 
their  dislike,  and  they  cut  it  down.  When,  the  next  day,  the  citizens 
were  preparing  to  set  up  another,  they  were  attacked  by  the  troops,  and 
two  of  the  leading  Sons  of  Liberty  were  wounded.  But  the  pole  was 
set  up.  It,  too,  was  soon  prostrated,  and  a  third  pole  was  raised,  when 
Governor  Moore  forbade  the  soldiers  to  touch  it. 

The  next  spring  the  citizens  of  New  York  celebrated  the  first  anni- 
versary of  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act  around  the  liberty  pole.  That 
night  the  soldiers  cut  it  down.  Another  was  set  up  the  next  day,  pro- 
tected from  the  axe  by  iron  bands.  An  unsuccessful  attempt  to  cut  it 
down,  and  also  to  prostrate  it  with  gunpowder,  were  made.  The  Sons 
of  Liberty  set  a  guard  to  watch  it,  and  Governor  Moore  again  forbade 
interference  with  it.  That  liberty  pole  stood  in  proud  defiance  until 
January,  1770,  when,  at  midnight,  soldiers  issued  from  the  barracks  on 
Chambers  Street,  prostrated  it,  sawed  it  in  pieces,  and  piled  them  up 
in  front  of  the  headquarters  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty.  The  bell  of  St. 
George's  chapel  was  rung,  and  the  next  morning  three  thousand  indig- 
nant people  stood  around  the  mutilated  liberty  pole,  and  by  resolutions 
declared  their  rights  and  their  determination  to  maintain  them.  The 
city  was  fearfully  excited  for  three  days.  In  frequent  affrays  with  the 
citizens  the  soldiers  were  generally  worsted,  and  in  a  severe  conflict  on 
Golden  Hill,  an  eminence  near  Burling  Slip  at  Cliff  and  Fulton  Streets, 
several  of  the  soldiers  were  disarmed.  When  quiet  was  restored 
another  liberty  pole  was  erected  on  private  ground,  on  Broadway  near 
Wall  Street.  This  fifth  flagstaff  remained  undisturbed  until  the  Brit- 
ish took  possession  of  the  city  in  1776,  when  it  was  hewn  down  by 
Cunningham,  the  notorious  provost  marshal.  That  fight  on  Golden 
Hill  iu  the  city  of  New  York  between  its  citizens  and  royal  troops  was 
the  fcrxt  battle  of  the  Revolution.  The  last  battle  of  that  war  was 
fought  there  between  Cunningham  and  Mrs.  Day,  at  the  foot  of  Murray 
Street. 

With  the  coalition  between  Colden  and  De  Lancey  a  gradual  change 
in  the  political  complexion  of  the  Provincial  Assembly  was  apparent. 
The  leaven  of  aristocracy  had  begun  a  transformation.    A  game  for 


30 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


political  power,  based  upon  proposed  financial  schemes,  was  begun.  A 
grant  for  the  support  of  the  troops  was  also  made.  These  things  men- 
aced the  liberties  of  the  people.  The  popular  leaders  sounded  the 
alarm.  Among  the  most  active  at  that  time  were  Isaac  Sears,  John 
Lamb,-  Alexander  AlcDougalhf  and  John  Morin  Scott +— names 
which  will  be  ever  associated  as  efficient  and  fearless  champions  of 
liberty  in  the  city  of  New  York  when  the  tempest  of  the  Revolution 
was  impending. 

In  December,  1700,  a  handbill  signed  "A  Son  of  Liberty"  was 
posted  throughout  the  city  calling  a  meeting  of  "  the  betrayed  inhabi- 
tants" in  the  Fields.  It  denounced  the  money  scheme  and  the  assem- 
bly, and  pointed  to  the  coalition  as  an  omen  of  danger  to  the  State. 
The  call  was  heeded,  and  the  next  day  a  large  concourse  of  citizens 
assembled  around  the  Liberty  Pole,  where  they  were  harangued  by 
John  Lamb,  one  of  the  most  ardent  patriots  of  New  York.    By  unani- 

*  John  Lamb  was  born  in  New  York  on  January  1,  1735,  and  died  there  May  31, 
1800.  He  was  at  first  an  optician,  but  in  1700  he  engaged  in  the  liquor  trade.  In  the 
ten  years'  quarrel  between  the  American  colonists  and  the  British  ministry,  Lamb  was 
an  earnest  and  active  patriot.  He  accompanied  Montgomery  to  Quebec  in  1775,  where 
he  was  wounded  and  made  prisoner.  Ho  was  then  a  captain  of  artillery.  Exchanged 
the  next  summer,  he  returned  to  New  York,  was  promoted  to  major,  and  attached  to  the 
regiment  of  artillery  under  General  Knox.  From  the  expedition  to  Quebec  at  the  begin, 
ning  of  the  war  to  the  siege  of  Yorktown  at  the  end  of  it,  Lamb  was  a  gallant  and  most 
useful  officer.  He  became  a  member  of  the  New  York  Assembly.  He  was  appointed 
collector  of  customs  at  the  port  of  New  York  by  President  Washington,  which  office  he 
held  until  his  death. 

f  Alexander  McDougall  was  born  in  Scotland  in  1731  ;  died  in  New  York  June  8, 
178G.  He  came  to  New  York  about  175S,  and  was  a  printer  and  seaman  when  the 
quarrel  between  Great  Britain  and  her  American  colonies  was  progressing.  He  issued 
an  inflammatory  address  in  17G9,  concerning  the  action  of  the  Provincial  Assembly, 
headed  "  To  the  Betrayed  Inhabitants  of  the  Colony,"  and  signed  "  A  Son  of  Liberty." 
This,  the  assembly  declared,  was  an  infamous  and  seditious  libel.  McDougall  was 
put  in  prison,  and  was  there  visited  and  regaled  by  patriotic  men  and  women.  He  was 
finally  released,  and  became  one  of  the  leading  men  in  civil  and  military  life  throughout 
the  war  for  independence.  He  entered  the  army  as  colonel,  and  was  a  major-general  in 
1777.  A  delegate  in  Congress  in  1781,  he  was  soon  appointed  "  Minister  of  Marine" 
(Secretary  of  the  Navy),  but  did  not  hold  the  office  long.  He  returned  to  the  army. 
He  was  chosen  a  senator  of  the  State  of  New  York  in  1783,  and  held  that  position  at  the 
time  of  his  death. 

|  John  Morin  Scott  was  born  in  New  York  in  1730  :  died  there  September  14,  1784. 
He  was  a  graduate  of  Yale  College,  became  a  lawyer,  and  holding  a  forcible  pen,  he 
joined  William  Livingston  in  writing  against  ministerial  measures  for  years  before  the 
breaking  out  of  the  war  for  independence.  He  was  a  most  active  and  influential  member 
of  the  Provincial  Congress  of  New  York,  and  of  committees.  In  177G  he  was  made  a 
brigadier-general,  and  fought  in  the  battle  of  Long  Island.  In  1777  he  was  chosen  State 
senator  ;  was  Secretary  of  the  State  of  New  York,  and  was  a  member  of  Congress  1780-83. 


Eng4byGeoE  Penne,N  Y~ 


JOHN  JACOB  ASTOR 


OUTLINE  HISTORY,  1009-1830. 


31 


moras  vote  the  proceedings  of  the  assembly  were  disapproved.  A  com- 
mittee presented  the  proceedings  of  the  meeting  to  the  assembly,  and 
were  courteously  received.  Another  handbill  from  the  same  hand, 
signed  "  Legion,"  appeared  the  next  day,  in  which  the  action  of  the 
assembly  was  denounced  as  "  base  and  inglorious,"  and  charged  that 
body  with  a  betrayal  of  their  trust.  This  second  attack  was  pro- 
nounced a  libel  by  the  assembly,  only  the  stanch  patriot  Philip  Schuy- 
ler voting  No.  They  offered  a  reward  for  the  discovery  of  the  writer. 
The  printer  of  the  handbills,  menaced  with  punishment,  told  them  it 
was  Alexander  McDougall,  a  seaman,  who  was  afterward  a  conspicuous 
officer  in  the  Continental  army.  lie  was  arrested,  and  refusing  to 
plead  or  give  bail,  was  imprisoned  many  Aveeks  before  he  was  brought 
to  trial.  Regarded  as  a  martyr  to  the  cause  of  liberty,  his  prison  was 
the  scene  of  daily  public  receptions.  Some  of  the  most  reputable  of 
the  citizens  sympathizing  with  him  frequently  visited  him.  Being  a 
sailor,  he  was  regarded  as  the  true  type  of  "  imprisoned  commerce." 
On  the  anniversary  of  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act,  his  health  was  drank 
with  honors  at  a  banquet,  and  the  meeting  in  procession  visited  him  in 
his  prison.  Ladies  of  distinction  daily  thronged  there.  Popular  songs 
were  written,  and  sung  under  his  prison  bars,  and  emblematic  swords 
Avere  worn.  His  Avords  Avhen  ordered  to  prison  Avere,  "  I  rejoice  that  I 
am  the  first  to  suffer  for  liberty  since  the  commencement  of  our  glorious 
struggle."  lie  Avas  finally  released  on  bail,  and  the  matter  Avas  Avisely 
dropped  by  the  prosecutors.  McDougall  Avas  a  true  type  of  what  is 
generally  known  as  the  "  common  people" — the  great  mass  of  citizens 
who  carry  on  the  chief  industries  of  a  country — its  agriculture,  com- 
merce, manufactures,  and  arts — and  create  its  wealth. 

Comparative  quiet  prevailed  in  New  York  from  the  time  of  the 
McDougall  excitement  until  the  arriAral  of  the  news  of  Lord  North's  ' 
famous  Tea  Act,  which  set  the  colonies  in  a  blaze.  The  people  ever3r- 
Avhere  resolved  to  oppose,  and  not  allow  a  cargo  of  tea  to  be  landed 
anywhere.  The  earliest  public  meeting  to  consider  the  reception  that 
should  be  given  to  the  tea-ships,  which  had  actually  sailed  for  America, 
Avas  held  in  the  city  of  New  York  on  the  15th  of  October,  1773.  Inti- 
mations had  reached  the  city  on  the  11th  that  a  tea-ship  had  been 
ordered  to  that  port  ;  and  at  the  meeting  held  at  the  Coffee-Hotrae  in 
W<ill  Street,  grateful  thanks  Avere  voted  to  the  patriotic  American 
merchants  and  shipmasters  in  London  Avho  had  refused  to  receive  tea  as 
freight  from  the  East  India  Company. 

AVhen  the  tea-ship  (Nancy)  arri\*ed  at  Sandy  Hook  (April  18,  1774) 
the  captain  was  informed  by  a  pilot  of  the  drift  of  public  sentiment  in 


32 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


New  York,  and  he  wisely  went  up  to  the  city  without  his  vessel.  lie 
found  that  sentiment  so  strong  against  allowing  him  to  land  his  cargo 
that  he  resolved  to  return  to  England  with  it.  While  he  was  in  the 
city  a  merchant  vessel  arrived  with  eighteen  chests  of  tea  hidden  in  her 
cargo.  The  vigilant  Sons  of  Liberty  discovered  them  and  cast  their 
contents  into  the  waters  of  the  harbor,  and  advised  the  captain  of  the 
vessel  to  leave  the  city  as  soon  as  possible.  As  he  and  the  commander 
of  the  Nancy  put  off  in  a  small  boat  at  the  foot  of  Broad  Street  for 
their  respective  vessels,  a  multitude  on  shore  shouted  a  farewell,  while 
the  thunders  of  cannon  lired  in  the  Fields  shook  the  city,  and  the 
people  hoisted  a  Hag  on  the  Liberty  Pole  in  token  of  triumph.  This 
New  York  Tea  Party  occurred  several  months  after  the  famous  Boston 
Tea  Party. 

At  this  juncture  the  state  of  political  society  in  New  York  was  pecul- 
iar. Social  differences  had  produced  two  quite  distinct  parties  among 
professed  republicans,  which  were  designated  respectively  Paitriciam 
and  TVtbunee  f  the  former  were  composed  of  the  merchants  and  gentry, 
and  the  latter  mostly  of  mechanics.  The  latter  were  radicals,  and  the 
former  joined  with  the  Loyalists  in  attempts  to  check  the  influence  of 
the  zealous  democrats.  Most  of  the  influential  merchants  were  with 
these  Conservatives,  and  were,  as  usual,  averse  to  commotions  which 
disturb  trade.  They  hesitated  to  enter  into  another  non-importation 
league.  They  held  a  public  meeting,  and  appointed  a  Committee  of 
Fifty-one  as  "representatives  of  public  sentiment  in  New  York." 
They  publicly  repudiated  a  strong  letter  which  the  radicals  had  sent  to 
their  brethren  in  Boston  ;  and  while  the  people  of  other  colonies 
approved  non -intercourse.  New  York,  as  represented  by  this  Grand 
Committee,  stood  alone  in  opposition  to  a  stringent  non -intercourse 
league.  The  Loyalists  rejoiced,  and  a  writer  in  Kivington's  Gazette 
exclaimed  with  exultation  : 

"  And  so,  my  good  masters,  I  find  it  no  joke, 
For  York  bus  stepp 'd  forward  and  thrown  off  the  yoke 
Of  Congress,  Committees,  and  even  King  Sears, 
Who  shows  you  good  nature  by  showing  his  ears." 

The  "  Committee  of  A'igilance"  appointed  by  the  Radicals  disre- 
garded the  action  of  the  Grand  Committee.  They  called  a  mass- 
meeting  of  the  citizens  in  the  Fields  on  the  19th  of  June,  1774.  That 
meeting  denounced  the  lukewarmness  of  the  Committee  of  Fifty-one, 
and  resolved  to  support  the  Bostonians  in  their  struggle.  The  port  of 
the  latter  had  been  closed  to  commerce  by  a  royal  order.    It  was  an  insult 


OUTLINE  HISTORY,  1G09-1830. 


33 


and  an  in  jury  to  the  whole  continent,  and  ought  to  be  resented  by  the 
whole.  Another  meeting  was  called  in  the  Fields  at  six  o'clock  in  the 
evening  of  the  6th  of  July,  "  to  hear  matters  of  the  utmost  importance 
to  the  reputation  of  the  people  and  their  security  as  freemen."  It  was 
an  immense  gathering,  and  was  ever  afterward  known  as  The  Great 
Meeting  m  the  Fields.  A  strong  resolution  in  favor  of  non-importation 
was  adopted,  and  other  patriotic  measures  were  approved.  In  the 
crowd  was  a  lad,  seventeen  years  of  age,  delicate  and  girl-like  in  per- 
sonal grace  and  stature.  Some  who  knew  him  as  a  student  at  King's 
(now  Columbia)  College,  of  much  intellectual  vigor,  urged  him  to  make 
a  speech.  After  much  persuasion  he  complied.  With  rare  eloquence 
and  logic  he  discussed  the  principles  involved  in  the  controversy,  de- 
picted the  sufferings  Americans  were  enduring  from  the  oppression  of 
the  mother  country,  and  pointed  to  the  means  which  might  secure 
redress.  All  listened  in  wonder  to  the  words  of  widsom  from  the  lips 
of  the  youth,  and  when  he  ceased  speaking  there  was  a  whispered 
murmur  in  the  crowd,  "It  is  a  collegian  !  it  is  a  collegian  !"  That 
young  orator  was  Alexander  Hamilton. 

Preparations  were  now  on  foot  for  a  general  council  of  the  English- 
American  colonies.  The  citizens  of  New  York  took  the  first  step  in 
that  direction.  The  Sons  of  Libert}',  whom  the  Loyalists  called  "  The 
Presbyterian  Jesuits,''  moved  by  the  injustice  and  menaces  of  the  Boston 
Port  Pill,  proposed,  in  May,  1774-,  by  their  representative  committee,  a 
General  Congress  of  delegates.  They  sent  this  proposition  to  Boston, 
urging  the  patriots  there  to  second  the  proposal.  They  also  sent  the 
same  to  the  Philadelphia  committee,  and  through  them  to  the  southern 
colonies.  There  was  general  acquiescence,  and  early  in  September 
delegates  from  twelve  of  the  colonies  met  in  Philadelphia  and  formed 
the  First  Continental  Congress. 

This  was  the  beginning  of  a  new  era  in  the  world's  history.  The 
tempest  of  revolution  which  the  British  king,  lords  and  commons  had 
engendered  was  about  to  sweep  over  the  English-American  colonies, 
and  by  its  energy  dismember  the  British  Empire  and  create  a  new 
power  among  the  nations  of  the  earth.  In  the  preliminary  events 
which  ushered  in  that  era  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  of  New  York  had 
borne  a  conspicuous  part.  They  had  first  planted  the  seeds  of 
democracy  in  America,  first  vindicated  the  freedom  of  the  press,  and 
first  suggested  the  use  of  three  great  forces  which  led  in  the  successful 
struggle  for  the  independence  of  the  American  people — namely,  Com- 
mittees of  Correspondence,  Non-importation  Leagues,  and  a  General 
Congress  which  foreshadowed  a  permanent  union.    In  that  Congress 


34 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


the  city  of  New  York  was  represented  by  James  Duane,*  John  Jay, 
Philip  Livingston,  and  Isaac  Low — men  who  took  an  important  part  in 
its  deliberations.  One  of  them  (John  Jay),  then  only  twenty-nine  years 
of  age,  wrote  the  able  Address  to  the  People  of  Great  Britain,  adopted 
by  the  Congress,  and  formed  one  of  those  admirable  state  papers  put 
forth  by  that  body,  concerning  which  William  Pitt  said  in  the  British 
Parliament  :  "  I  must  declare  and  avow  that  in  all  my  reading  and  study 
of  history  (and  it  has  been  my  favorite  study — I  have  read  Thucydides, 
and  have  studied  and  admired  the  master  states  of  the  world) — that  for 
solidity  of  reasoning,  force  of  sagacity,  and  wisdom  of  conclusion, 
under  such  a  complication  of  circumstances,  no  nation  or  body  of  men 
can  stand  in  preference  to  the  General  Congress  at  Philadelphia." 

At  that  time  the  city  of  New  York  contained  a  population  of  about 
twenty-two  thousand.  The  city  had  expanded  northward  on  the 
narrow  island.  Streets  were  opened  on  the  west  side  of  Broadway  as 
tar  as  Keade  Street,  at  which  point  had  just  been  erected  the  New 
York  Hospital.  It  was  so  far  out  of  town  that  nobody  dreamed  the 
little  city  would  extend  so  far  inland  within  a  hundred  years.  Up  the 
Bowery  Lane  (now  the  Bowery),  then  running  through  the  open  country 
to  Stuvvesant's  country  seat,  the  streets  were  laid  out  as  far  as  Hester 
Street,  and  up  Division  Street,  then  also  a  country  road,  as  far  as 
Orchard  Street. 

There  were  three  newspapers  published  in  the  city  at  that  time — 
Hugh  Gaine's  New  York  Jf< /■<■>'/■'/,  John  Holt's  Nets  York  Journal, 
and  James  Rivington's  New  York  Gazette.  The  two  former  were  in 
sympathy  with  the  patriots  ;  the  latter  favored  the  royal  side  in 
politics]  discussions.  The  Journal  was  the  successor  of  Zenger's  Jour- 
nal, revived  by  Holt  in  1707.  "When  the  war  for  independence  broke 
out,  and  the  British  took  possession  of  the  city,  Gaine  and  Holt  fled, 
the  first  to  New  Jersey,  the  second  up  the  Hudson  River  to  Kingston, 
and  resumed  the  publication  of  their  respective  papers  at  the  places  of 

*  James  Duane  was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York,  February  0,  1733  :  died  in  Duanes- 
burg,  N.  Y.,  February  1,  1797.  He  began  a  settlement  in  1765  on  the  site  of  Duanes- 
burg,  a  part  of  a  large  estate  which  he  inherited.  His  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Colonel 
Robert  Livingston  of  the  "  manor."  An  active  patriot,  he  was  chosen  a  delegate  to  the 
first  Continental  Congress  in  1774  ;  was  a  member  of  the  New  York  Provincial  Conven- 
tion, and  was  on  the  committee  that  drafted  the  first  Constitution  of  the  State  of  New 
York.  After  the  British  evacuation  in  1783  he  returned  to  the  city  of  New  York,  and  was 
elected  the  first  mayor  under  the  new  Constitution.  In  1783-84  he  was  a  member  of  the 
council  and  State  Senator,  and  was  also  a  member  of  the  convention  of  the  State  of  New 
York  which  adopted  the  National  Constitution.  Mr.  Duane  was  United  States  District 
Judge  from  1789  to  1794. 


OUTLINE  HISTORY,  1G09-1830. 


35 


their  exile.  At  that  time  John  Anderson,  a  Scotchman,  was  publish- 
ing a  small  Whig  newspaper  entitled  the  Constitutional  Gazette.  He 
tied  to  Connecticut.  Rivington,  who  had  become  zealous  in  the  cause 
of  the  crown,  remained.  His  vigorous,  sharp,  and  witty  thrusts  at  the 
patriotic  party  so  irritated  the  Sons  of  Liberty  that  Isaac  Sears,*  in 
the  fall  of  1T7.">,  at  the  head  of  a  hundred  light-horsemen  from  Con- 
necticut, went  to  the  city  at  noonday,  entered  Rivington's  printing 
establishment  at  the  foot  of  Wall  Street,  destroyed  his  press,  and  put- 
ting his  type  into  bags  carried  them  away  and  made  bullets  of  them. 

The  First  Continental  Congress  took  a  strong  position  in  opposition 
to  the  obnoxious  measures  of  the  British  Government.  They  adopted 
a  general  non-importation  league  under  the  name  of  "  The  American 
Association.''  They  denounced  the  slave  trade,  put  forth  some  able 
state  papers,  above  mentioned,  and  sent  a  copy  of  their  proceedings  to 
Dr.  Franklin,  then  in  England.  Vigilance  committees  were  appointed 
to  see  that  the  provisions  of  the  association  were  not  evaded.  The 
Congress  adjourned  to  meet  again  the  following  May,  if  public  necessity 
should  require  them  to  do  so. 

The  patriotic  party  in  the  New  York  Assembly  tried  in  vain  to  have 
that  body  officially  sanction  the  proceedings  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress. The  leaven  of  loyalty  was  at  work  in  that  body,  and  there  was 
much  timidity  exhibited  as  the  great  crisis  approached.  Conservatism 
was  too  strong  for  the  patriots  in  that  body  to  effect  more  than  the 
adoption  of  a  remonstrance,  but  it  was  so  bold  in  its  utterances  that 
Parliament  refused  to  accept  it. 

"When  the  assembly  adjourned  in  April,  1775,  it  was  final.  It  never 
met  again.  The  people  in  the  city  took  public  matters  into  their  own 
hands.    They  had  appointed  a  committee  of  sixty  to  enforce  the  regu- 

*  Isaac  Sears  was  born  at  Norwalk,  Conn.,  in  17'29;  died  in  Canton,  China,  October 
28,  1780.  He  was  one  of  the  most  zealous  and  active  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty  in  New 
York,  when  the  war  for  independence  was  a-kindling.  When  political  matters  arrested 
his  attention.  Sears  was  a  successful  merchant  in  New  York,  carrying  on  trade  with 
Europe  and  the  West  Indies.  Previous  to  engaging  in  trade  he  commanded  a  privateer. 
He  lost  his  vessel  in  1701.  and  then  settled  in  New  York.  In  the  Stamp  Act  excitement 
he  became  a  leader  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty,  and  so  bold  and  active  did  he  become  that 
he  received  the  name  of  "  King  Sears. "  The  Tories  and  the  Tory  newspaper  (Riving- 
ton's) maligned,  ridiculed,  and  caricatured  him  without  stint.  Sears  retaliated  on 
Rivington.  One  day  in  November,  1775,  he  entered  the  city  at  the  head  of  a  troop  of 
Connecticut  horsemen,  and  in  open  day  destroyed  Rivington's  printing  establishment. 
He  became  General  Charles  Lee's  adjutant  in  1770,  but  did  not  remain  long  in  the  mili- 
tary service.  When  the  war  was  ended  his  business  and  fortune  were  gone,  and  in  1785 
he  sailed  for  Canton  as  a  supercargo.  He  sickened  on  the  passage,  and  died  soon  after 
his  arrival  in  China. 


3G 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


lations  of  the  association.  The  assembly  having  refused  to  make 
provision  for  the  appointment  of  delegates  to  the  Second  Continental 
Congress,  it  was  determined  to  organize  a  Provincial  Congress.  Dele- 
gates from  the  several  counties  met  in  New  York  on  the  2<>th  of  April 
and  appointed  delegates  to  the  Congress — namely,  Philip  Livingston, 
James  Duane,  John  Alsop,  John  Jay,  Simon  Boerum,  William  Floyd, 
Henry  Wisner,  Philip  Schuyler,  George  Clinton,  Lewis  Morris,  Francis 
Lewis,  and  Robert  R.  Livingston. 

When  news  of  the  conflicts  at  Lexington  and  Concord  reached  New 
York,  five  days  after  their  occurrence,  the  citizens  were greatly  excited. 
All  business  was  suspended.  The  Sons  of  Liberty,  who  had  gathered 
arms,  distributed  them  among  the  people,  and  a  party  formed  them- 
selves into  a  revolutionary  corps  under  Captain  Samuel  Broome,  and 
assumed  temporarily  the  functions  of  the  municipal  government,  for  it 
was  known  that  the  mayor  was  a  loyalist.  They  obtained  the  keys  of 
the  Custom-1  louse,  closed  it,  and  laid  an  embargo  upon  every  vessel  in 
port.  This  done,  they  proceeded  to  organize  a  provisional  government 
for  the  city,  and  on  the  5th  of  May  the  people  assembled  at  the  Coffec- 
I  louse,  chose  one  hundred  of  their  fellow-citizens  for  the  purpose, 
invested  them  with  the  charge  of  municipal  affairs-,  and  pledged  them- 
selves to  obey  the  orders  of  the  committee.  It  was  composed  of  the 
following  substantial  citizens  : 

Isaac  Low,  chairman  ;  John  Jay,  Francis  Lewis,  John  Alsop,  Philip 
Livingston,  James  Duane,  Evert  Duyckman,  William  Seton,  William 
W.  Ludlow,  Cornelius  Clopper,  Abraham  Brinkerhoff,  Henry  Remsen, 
Robert  Kay.  Evert  Bancker,  Joseph  Totten,  Abraham  J'.  Lott,  David 
Beekman,  Isaac  Roosevelt,  Gabriel  II.  Ludlow,  William  Walton,  Daniel 
Phoenix,  Frederick  .lav.  Samuel  Broome,  John  De  Lancey,  Augustus 
Van  Home,  Abraham  Durvee,  Samuel  Verplanck,  Rudolphus  Ritzema, 
John  Morton,  Joseph  Ilallet,  Robert  Benson,  Abraham  Brasher, 
Leonard  Lispenard,  Nicholas  Hoffman,  Peter  Van  Brugh  Livingston, 
Thomas  Marsten,  Lewis  Pintard,  John  Imlay,  Eleazer  Miller,  Jr.,  John 
Broome,  John  B.  Moore,  Nicholas  Bo«art,  John  Anthony,  Yictor 
Bicker,  William  Goforth,  Hercules  Mulligan,  Alexander  McDougall, 
John  Reade,  Joseph  Ball,  George  Janeway,  John  White,  Gabriel  W. 
Ludlow,  John  Lasher,  Theophilus  Anthony,  Thomas  Smith,  Richard 
Yates,  Oliver  Templeton,  Jacobus  Yan  Landby,  Jeremiah  Piatt,  Peter 
S.  Curtenius,  Thomas  Randall,  Lancaster  Burling,  Benjamin  Kissam, 
Jacob  Leflferts,  Anthony  Yan  Dam,  Abraham  Walton,  Hamilton 
Young,  Nicholas  Roosevelt,  Cornelius  P.  Low,  Francis  Bassett,  James 
Beekman,  Thomas  Ivers,  William  Dunning,  John  Berrien,  Benjamin 


OUTLINE  HISTORY,  1009-1830. 


37 


Hekne,  William  W.  Gilbert,  Daniel  Dunscombe,  John  Lamb,  Richard 
Sharp,  John  Morm  Scott,  Jacob  Van  Voorliis,  Comfort  Sands,  Edward 
Fleinming,  Peter  Goelet,  Gerrit  Kettletas,  Thomas  Buchanan,  James 
Desbrosses,  Petrus  Byvanck,  and  Lott  Embree. 

This  committee  was  composed  of  the  leading-  citizens  of  New  York, 
engaged  in  various  professions  and  industries,  the  bone  and  sinew  of 
society  at  that  time.  Many  of  them  were  conspicuous  actors  in  the 
important  events  which  ensued  ;  and  thousands  of  citizens  of  New 
York  to-day  may  find  among,  and  point  witli  just  pride  to,  the  names 
of  ancestors  which  appear  upon  that  roll  of  honor. 

This  committee  immediately  assumed  the  control  of  the  city,  taking- 
care  to  secure  weapons  for  possible  use,  sending  away  all  cannon  not 
belonging  to  the  province,  and  prohibiting  the  sale  of  arms  to  persons 
suspected  of  being  hostile  to  the  patriots,  and  they  were;  many.  They 
presented  an  address  to  Governor  Colden  explaining  the  object  of  their 
appointment,  and  assuring  him  that  they  should  use  every  effort  to 
maintain  peace  and  quiet  in  the  city. 

It  Avas  known  that  royal  regiments  were  coming  to  New  York,  and 
the  committee  asked  the  Continental  Congress  for  instructions  how  to 
act  in  the  premises.  They  were  advised  not  to  oppose  their  landing, 
but  not  to  suffer  them  to  erect  fortifications,  and  to  act  on  the 
defensive.  In  the  Provincial  Congress  there  was  a  strong  infusion  of 
Tory  elements,  and  they  exhibited  a  timid  or  temporizing  policy  on  this 
occasion.  The  troops  landed  ;  the  Provincial  Congress  obsequiously 
showed  great  deference  to  crown  officers  ;  the  Asia  man-of-war  lying- 
in  the  harbor  was  allowed  supplies  of  provisions  ;  some  of  the  acts  of  the 
Sons  of  Liberty  were  rebuked,  and  there  seemed  to  be  more  of  a  dis- 
position to  produce  reconciliation  than  to  assert  the  rights  of  the  people. 
Edmund  Burke,  who  had  been  an  agent  for  the  province,  expressed  his 
surprise  "  at  the  scrupulous  timidity  which  could  suffer  the  king's 
forces  to  possess  themselves  of  the  most  important  port  in  America." 

When,  soon  after  this,  the  troops  were  ordered  to  Boston,  the  com- 
mittee directed  that  they  should  take  no  munitions  of  war  with  them, 
excepting  their  arms  and  accoutrements.  Unmindful  of  this  order, 
they  were  proceeding  down  Broad  Street  to  embark  Avith  several 
wagons  loaded  with  arms,  when  they  were  discovered  by  Colonel 
Abirinus  "Willett, *  who  hastily  gathered  some  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty, 

*  Marinus  Willett  was  born  at  Jamaica,  L.  I.,  July  31,  1740,  and  died  in  New  York 
City  August  23,  1830.  lie  was  graduated  at  King's  (Columbia")  College  in  17(iG.  He 
served  under  Abercrombie  and  15radstrect  in  1758,  and  wben  the  quurrel  between  Great 
Britain  and  her  American  colonies  began,  Willett  was  one  of  the  most  energetic  of  the 


38 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


confronted  the  troops,  seized  the  horse  that  was  drawing  the  head 
wagon,  and  stopped  the  whole  train.  While  disputing  with  the  com- 
mander, the  Tory  mayor  of  the  city  came  up  and  severely  reprimanded 
Willett  for  thus  "  endangering  the  public  peace,"  when  the  latter  was 
joined  by  John  Morin  Scott,  one  of  the  Committee  of  One  Hundred, 
who  told  him  he  was  right  ;  that  the  troops  were  violating  orders,  and 
they  must  not  be  allowed  to  take  the  arms  away.  The  wagons  were 
turned  back,  and  the  troops,  in  light  marching  order,  were  allowed  to 
embark. 

"War  had  now  begun.  Blood  had  flowed  at  Lexington.  Ticonderoga 
had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  patriots.  Ethan  Allen  had  seized  it 
in  the  name  "of  the  Great  Jehovah  and  the  Continental  Congress." 
The  battle  of  Bunker's  Hill  soon  followed.  The  army  of  volunteers 
gathered  at  Cambridge  was  adopted  by  the  Congress  as  a  Continental 
army,  and  Washington  was  appointed  commander-in-chief.  With  his 
suite  he  arrived  in  New  York  on  the  25th  of  June.  The  royal  governor 
Tryon  had  arrived  the  night  before  and  been  cordially  received  by  the 
Tory  mayor  (Mathews)  and  the  common  council.  Here  were  the 
representatives  of  the  two  great  parties  in  America — Whig  and  Tory — 
face  to  face.  The  situation  was  embarrassing,  and  for  a  moment  the 
people  were  at  their  wit's  end.  The  two  municipal  governments  were 
hostile  to  each  other.  The  Provincial  Congress  then  in  session  in  the 
city  came  to  the  rescue  by  timidly  presenting  Washington  with  a  cau- 
tious address,  containing  nothing  that  would  arouse  the  anger  of  the 
British  lion.  For  a  moment  the  patriotic  heart  of  the  city  beat  noise- 
lessly, and  Washington  passed  on,  sure  of  the  public  sympathy,  which 
was  only  suppressed,  and  on  the  3d  of  July  he  took  formal  command 
of  the  army  at  Cambridge. 

The  Continental  Congress  ordered  New  York  to  raise  regiments  of 
troops  and  to  fortify  the  passes  in  the  Hudson  Highlands.  The  Pro- 
vincial Congress  directed  the  great  guns  of  the  Battery,  in  the  city,  to 
be  removed  and  sent  up  the  river.  This  order  brought  matters  to  a 
crisis.    Captain  Lamb,  with  some  Sons  of  Liberty  and  other  citizens, 

opponents  of  the  ministry.  A  leading  Son  of  Liberty,  he  was  a  leader  in  the  rebellious 
movements  in  New  York  City.  He  entered  MeDougall's  regiment  as  captain,  and  partici- 
pated in  the  invasion  of  Canada.  Promoted  to  lieutenant-colonel,  he  was  ordered  to 
Fort  Stanwix,  in  May,  1777,  and  participated  in  the  stormy  events  of  that  neighborhood 
during  the  summer.  In  June,  177fi,  he  joined  the  army  under  Washington,  and  was 
active  in  the  military  service  during  the  remainder  of  the  war.  At  the  close  he  was 
chosen  sheriff  of  the  city  of  New  York,  and  filled  the  office  eight  years.  In  1807  he 
was  chosen  mayor  of  the  city.  Colonel  Willett  was  created  a  brigadier-general  in  1702, 
but  never  entered  upon  the  duties  of  that  rank. 


OUTLINE  HISTORY,  1609-1830. 


39 


proceeded  to  execute  the  order  on  a  pleasant  night  in  August.  While 
so  engaged,  a  musket  was  fired  upon  them  from  a  barge  belonging  to 
the  Asia.  The  fire  was  returned  by  Lamb's  party,  killing  one  of  the 
crew  and  wounding  several  others.  The  Asia  opened  a  cannonade 
upon  the  town,  which  caused  great  consternation  and  the  flight  of 
many  of  the  inhabitants.  Lamb  and  his  men  persisted  in  this  work  in 
spite  of  the  cannonade,  and  took  away  the  whole  twenty -one  cannon 
from  the  Battery.  After  that  the  Asia  was  denied  supplies  from  the 
city,  and  Governor  Tryon,  perceiving  his  danger,  took  counsel  of  his 
fears  and  fled  for  refuge  on  board  a  British  man-of-war  in  the  harbor, 
where  he  attempted  to  exercise  civil  government  for  a  while.  After 
these  events  the  city  enjoyed  comparative  quiet  until  the  following 
spring,  disturbed  only  by  Sears's  raid  upon  Bivington's  printing  estab- 
lishment, already  mentioned. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


A BRITISH  army  commanded  by  General  Howe  had  been  besieged 
in  Boston  during  tbe  winter  of  1775-76,  and  in  March  was  com- 
pelled to  fly  to  Halifax,  N.  S.,  by  sea,  leaving  New  England  in  posses- 
sion of  the  "  rebels."  Meanwhile  the  British  ministry  had  conceived  a 
plan  for  separating  New  England  from  the  rest  of  the  colonies  by  the 
establishment  of  a  line  of  military  posts  in  the  valleys  of  the  Hudson 
and  Eake  Champlain,  between  New  York  and  the  St.  Lawrence.  To 
do  this  New  York  must  be  seized. 

Aside  from  this  scheme,  New  York  appears  to  have  been  a  coveted 
prize  for  the  British,  and  early  in  177<>  Howe  despatched  General 
Clinton  secretly  to  attack  it.  Suspecting  New  York  to  be  Clinton's 
destination,  Washington  sent  General  Charles  Lee  thither  ;  and  on  the 
evacuation  of  Boston  in  March,  the  commander-in-chief  marched  with 
nearly  the  whole  of  his  army  to  New  York,  arriving  there  at  the 
middle  of  April.  He  poshed  forward  the  defences  of  the  city  begun  by 
General  Lord  Stirling.  Fort  George,  on  the  site  of  Fort  Amsterdam, 
was  strengthened,  numerous  batteries  were  constructed  on  the  shores 
of  the  Hudson  and  East  rivers,  and  lines  of  fortifications  were  built 
across  the  island  from  river  to  river  not  far  from  the  city.  Strong  Fort 
Washington  was  finally  built  on  the  highest  land  on  the  island  (now 
Washington  Heights),  and  intrenchments  were  thrown  up  on  Harlem 
Heights.  In  the  summer  Washington  made  his  headquarters  at  Rich- 
mond Hill,  then  a  country  retreat  at  the  (present)  junction  of  Charlton 
and  Yarick  streets. 

On  the  l<>th  of  July  copies  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  were 
received  in  New  York.  The  army  was  drawn  up  into  hollow  squares 
by  brigades,  and  in  that  position  the  important  document  was  read  to 
each  brigade.  That  night  soldiers  and  citizens  joined  in  pulling  down 
the  equestrian  statue  of  King  George,  which  the  grateful'  citizens  had 
caused  to  be  set  up  in  the  Bowling  Green  only  six  years  before.  They 
dragged  the  leaden  image  through  the  streets  and  broke  it  in  pieces. 
Some  of  it  was  taken  to  Connecticut  and  moulded  into  bullets. 

It  was  while  Washington  had  his  headquarters  at  Richmond  Hill  that 


OUTLINE  HISTORY,  1609-1830. 


a  plot,  suggested,  it  is  said,  by  Governor  Tryon,  to  murder  him  was 
discovered.  One  of  his  Life  Guard  was  bribed  to  do  the  deed.  lie 
attempted  to  poison  his  general.  He  had  secured,  as  he  thought,  a 
confederate  in  the  person  of  the  maiden  who  waited  upon  Washington's 
table.  She  allowed  the  miscreant  to  put  the  poison  in  a  dish  of  green 
peas  she  was  about  to  set  before  the  commander-in-chief,  to  whom  she 
gave  warning  of  his  danger  when  she  placed  them  on  his  table.  The 
treacherous  guardsman  was  arrested,  found  guilty,  and  hanged.  This 
was  the  first  military  execution  in  New  York. 

At  the  close  of  June,  1770,  a  British  fleet  arrived  at  Sandy  Hook 
with  General  Howe's  army,  which  was  landed  on  Staten  Island,  and 
soon  afterward  the  British  general,  who  was  also  a  peace  commissioner, 
attempted  to  open  a  correspondence  with  Washington.  He  addressed 
his  letter  to  'f  George  "Washington,  Esq."  The  latter  refused  to  re- 
ceive it,  as  the  address  "  was  not  in  a  style  corresponding  with  the  dig- 
nity of  the  situation  which  he  held."  Another  was  sent,  addressed 
"  George  Washington,  etc.,  etc.,  etc."  This  was  refused,  as  it  did  not 
recognize  his  public  character.  The  bearer  of  the  letters  explained  to 
Washington  their  purport,  which  was  to  "grant  pardons,"  etc. 
Washington  replied  that  the  Americans  had  committed  no  offences 
which  needed  pardons,  and  the  affair  was  dropped.  Afterward  Gen- 
eral and  Admiral  Howe  met  a  committee  of  Congress  on  Staten  Island 
to  confer  on  the  subject  of  peace,  but  it  was  fruitless  of  any  apparent 
good. 

Soon  after  Howe's  troops  had  landed  they  were  joined  by  forces 
under  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  which  had  been  repulsed  in  an  attack  upon 
Charleston,  S.  C.  Hessians — German  mercenaries  hired  by  the  British 
Government— also  came  ;  and  late  in  August  the  British  force  on 
Staten  Island  and  on  the  ships  was  more  than  twenty-five  thousand  in 
number.  On  the  25th  of  August  over  ten  thousand  of  these  had 
landed  on  the  western  end  of  Long  Island,  prepared  to  attempt  the 
capture  of  New  York.  Washington,  whose  army  was  then  about 
seventeen  thousand  strong,  had  caused  fortifications  to  be  constructed  at 
Brooklyn,  and  he  sent  over  a  greater  part  of  his  forces  to  confront  the 
invaders.  The  battle  of  Long  Island  ensued,  and  was  disastrous  to  the 
Americans. 

Washington  skilfully  conducted  the  remainder  not  killed  or  captured, 
in  a  retreat  across  the  East  River,  under  cover  of  a  fog,  to  New  York, 
and  thence  to  Harlem  Heights  at  the  northern  end  of  the  island.  The 
conquering  British  followed  tardily,  crossed  the  East  River  at  Kip's 
Bay,  and  after  a  sharp  battle  on  Harlem  Plains  took  possession  of  the 


42  HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 

city  of  New  York,  or  what  was  left  of  it.  The  British  had  pitched 
their  tents  near  the  city,  intending  to  enter  the  next  morning,  and 
were  in  repose.  Suddenly  at  midnight  arrows  of  lurid  flame  shot 
heavenward  from  the  lower  part  of  the  town.  A  conflagration  had 
been  accidentally  kindled  at  the  foot  of  Broad  Street.  Many  of  the 
inhabitants  had  fled  from  the  city,  and  few  were  left  to  fight  the 
flames,  which,  in  the  space  of  a  few  hours,  devoured  about  five  hundred 
buildings.  The  soldiers  and  sailors  from  the  vessels  in  the  river  stayed 
the  flames  before  they  reached  Wall  Street.  The  British  took  posses- 
sion of  the  city  of  New  York  in  September,  177(>,  and  held  it  until  No- 
vember, f  783.  Ex-Governor  Colden  died  a  few  days  alter  the  fire, 
aged  eighty -nine  years. 

A  day  or  two  after  the  occupation  began,  Captain  Math  an  Hale,  of 
Connecticut,  was  brought  to  the  headquarters  of  General  Howe  in  the 
Beekman  mansion  at  Turtle  Bay  (Forty-fifth  Street  and  East  River), 
where  he  was  condemned  as  a  spy.  He  was  confined  in  the  greenhouse 
that  night,  and  banged  the  next  morning  under  the  supervision  of  the 
notorious  provost-marshal,  Cunningham,  who  behaved  in  the  most 
brutal  manner  toward  his  victim.  Hale  is  justly  regarded  as  a  martyr 
to  the  cause  of  freedom  ;  Andre,  who  suffered  for  the  same  offence, 
was  the  victim  of  his  own  ambition. 

New  York  exhibited  scenes  of  intense  suffering  endured  by  American 
prisoners  during  the  British  occupation  of  the  city.  It  was  the  British 
headquarters  throughout  the  war.  The  provost  jail  (now  the  Hall  of 
Records)  was  the  prison  for  captured  American  officers,  and  was  under 
the  direct  charge  of  Cunningham.  The  various  sugar-houses — the 
largest  buildings  in  the  city — were  also  used  for  prisons,  and  some  of 
the  churches  were  converted  into  hospitals.  Old  hulks  of  vessels  were 
moored  in  the  Hudson  and  East  rivers,  and  used  as  floating  prisons! 
There  were  five  thousand  Americans  suffering  in  the  prisons  and  prison- 
ships  at  New  York  at  one  time,  and  they  were  dying  by  scores  every 
day.  Ill-treatment,  lack  of  humanity,  and  starvation  everywhere  pre- 
vailed. "  No  care  was  taken  of  the  sick,"  wrote  one  of  the  victims, 
"  and  if  any  died  they  were  thrown  at  the  door  of  the  prison,  and  lay 
there  till  the  next  day,  when  they  were  put  on  a  cart  and  drawn  out  to 
the  intrenchments,  beyond  the  Jews1  burial-ground  [Chatham  Square]-, 
where  they  were  interred  by  their  fellow-prisoners,  conducted  thither 
for  that  purpose.  The  dead  were  thrown  into  a  hole  promiscuously, 
without  the  usual  rites  of  sepulture." 

The  "  prison-ships,"  as  the  old  hulks  were  called,  were,  if  possible, 
more  conspicuous  as  scenes  of  barbarous  treatment  than  the  jails  on 


OUTLINE  HISTORY,  1G09-1830. 


43 


shore.  The  most  famous  (or  infamous)  of  these  was  the  Jersey,  the 
largest  of  the  group  and  the  longest  retained  in  that  service.  She  was 
moored  at  the  Wallabout  (now  the  Navy-Yard  at  Brooklyn),  and  was 
called  by  the  captives  "the  hell  afloat."  These  captive  American 
sailors  composed  the  bulk  of  the  prisoners.  The  most  wanton  outrages 
were  suffered  by  the  poor  victims.  For  example  :  "  One  night/'  said 
one  of  them  who  escaped,  "  while  the  men  were  eagerly  pressing  to  the 
grate  at  the  hatchway  to  obtain  a  breath  of  pure  air  while  awaiting 
their  turn  to  go  on  deck,  the  sentinel  thrust  his  bayonet  among  them, 
killing  twenty-five  of  the  number  ;  and  this  outrage  was  frequently 
repeated."  The  number  of  deaths  in  this  "hell"  from  fever,  starva- 
tion, and  even  actual  suffocation  in  the  pent-up  and  exhausted  air,  was 
frightful  ;  and  every  morning  there  went  down  the  hatchway  from  the 
deck  the  fearful  cry  of  "  Rebels,  turn  out  your  dead  !"  Then  a  score, 
sometimes,  of  dead  bodies  covei'ed  with  vermin  would  be  carried  up  by 
tottering  half  skeletons,  their  suffering  companions,  when  they  were 
taken  to  the  shore  and  buried  in  the  sands  of  the  beach. 

Such  was  the  fate  of  eleven  t}u>><sand  American  prisoners.  The  rem- 
nants of  their  bones  were  gathered  by  the  Tammany  Society  of  New 
York  and  deposited  in  a  vault  near  the  entrance  to  the  Navy-Yard, 
with  funeral  ceremonies,  in  1808.  By  arrangements  made  by  the  Con- 
tinental Congress  for  an  exchange  of  prisoners,  and  the  humane  and 
energetic  exertions  of  Elias  Boudinot,  commissary  of  prisoners,  the  con- 
dition of  the  captives  was  much  ameliorated  during  the  later  years  of 
the  war.  But  the  sufferings  of  the  officers  in  the  provost  prison,  at  the 
hands  of  the  brutal  Cunningham,  continued.  lie  seemed  to  be  acting1 
under  direct  orders  from  his  government  and  independent  of  the  mili- 
tary authorities.  In  his  confession  before  his  execution  in  England  for 
a  capital  crime,  he  said  :  "I  shudder  to  think  of  the  murders  I  have 
been  accessory  to,  with  and  without  orders  from  government,  especially 
while  in  New  York,  during  which  time  there  were  more  than  two 
thousand  prisoners  starved  in  the  different  churches  by  stopping  their 
rations,  which  I  sold  !" 

In  July,  1777,  the  State  of  New  York  was  organized  under  a  consti- 
tution adopted  at  Kingston  on  the  Hudson.  George  Clinton  was 
elected  governor,  and  continued  in  the  office  about  twenty  years  con- 
secutively. The  first  session  of  the  Legislature  was  held  at  Pough- 
keepsie  at  the  beginning  of  177S. 

In  the  summer  of  1778  New  York  suffered  from  another  great  con- 
flagration. About  three  hundred  buildings  were  destroyed  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Cruger's  wharf,  on  the  East  River.    It  broke  out  in 


44 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Pearl  Street  (then  Dock  Street),  and  raged  for  several  hours.  The  fire 
companies  had  heen  disbanded,  anil  the  soldiers  who  tried  to  extinguish 
the  flames  effected  but  little,  owing  to  inexperience. 

The  winter  of  1779-80  was  remarkable  for  intense  cold.  The  suffer- 
ings in  the  city  of  New  York,  especially  among  the  poor,  were  fearful. 
Sufficient  fuel  could  not  be  obtained,  for  the  city  was  blockaded  on  the 
land  side  by  the  Americans.  Some  of  the  citizens  Avere  reduced  to 
great  extremities.  There  were  instances  of  their  splitting  up  chairs 
and  tables  for  fuel  to  cook  their  breakfasts,  and  the  women  and  children 
lav  in  bed  the  rest  of  the  day  to  keep  warm.  The  waters  about  the 
city  were  frozen  into  a  solid  bridge  of  ice  for  forty  days,  and  the 
British  sent  eighty  heavy  cannon  over  it  from  New  York  to  Staten 
Island  to  repel  an  expected  invasion. 

The  arrest  and  execution  of  Andre  produced  great  commotion  in 
New  York  society  in  the  fall  of  1780.  The  inhabitants  were  mostly 
Tories.  The  Whigs  had  left  the  city,  and  Tory  refugees  in  different 
parts  of  the  country  had  flocked  back  to  the  city.  The  Americans 
were  anxious  to  obtain  the  person  of  Arnold  and  save  Andre.  Clinton 
would  not  give  him  up,  and  an  attempt  was  made  to  seize  him.  Ser- 
jeant Champe  pretended  to  desert  from  the  American  army,  and  was 
warmly  received  by  the  traitor  at  Clinton's  headquarters.  It  was 
arranged  for  Champe  and  some  comrades  to  seize  Arnold  in  the  garden 
at  night,  gag  him,  take  him  to  a  boat,  and  carry  him  to  "Washington's 
headquarters  at  Tappan.  Unfortunately,  Champe  Avas  ordered  by  the 
British  commander  to  go  south  with  the  troops  on  the  very  day  when 
the  plot  Avas  to  be  executed,  and  it  failed. 

On  the  arriAral  of  the  French  allies  on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson  the 
next  year,  the  Americans  prepared  to  attack  New  York,  but  the  whole 
force  finally  marched  to  Virginia,  and  in  October  captured  Comwalhs 
and  his  army  at  Vorktown.  This  victory  virtually  ended  the  war,  but 
British  troops  continued  to  occupy  NeAV  York  for  more  than  a  year 
afterward.  It  was  the  last  place  evacuated  by  them.  Preparations 
for  that  event  caused  a  fearful  panic  among  the  Tory  inhabitants  of  the 
cit v.  who  dreaded  to  face  the  indignation  of  their  "Whig  felloAV-citizens 
whom  they  had  oppressed,  and  Avho  Avould  noAV  return  in  force  as 
victors.  So  more  than  a  thousand  of  them  left  their  homes  and  coun- 
try, and  fled  to  No\-a  Scotia  in  British  transports.  The  troops  left  the 
harbor  on  the  25th  of  November,  1873 — a  day  yet  celebrated  in  the 
city  each  year  as  "  Evacuation  Day." 

Before  the  troops  left,  under  the  proAnsions  of  an  honorable  treaty, 
they  committed  an  act  umvorthy  of  the  British  name.    They  nailed 


OUTLINE  HISTORY,  1609  1830. 


45 


their  flag  to  the  staff  in  Fort  George,  unreefed  the  halliards,  knocked 
off  the  cleats,  and  "  slushed  "  the  pole  to  prevent  Americans  ascending 
it  and  unfurling  the  Stars  and  Stripes  there  before  the  departing  troops 
should  be  out  of  sight.  They  "were  frustrated  by  a  young  American 
sailor  (John  Van  Arsdale,  who  died  in  1836),  who  ascended  the  flagstaff 
by  nailing  on  the  cleats  and  applying  sand  to  the  greased  pole.  In 
this  way  he  soon  reached  the  top,  hauled  down  the  British  colors,  and 
placed  those  of  the  United  States  in  the  position.  This  was  accom- 
plished while  the  British  vessels  were  yet  in  the  Lower  Bay. 

Now  occurred  the  closing  scene  of  the  Revolution.  In  the  "great 
room"  of  the  tavern  of  Samuel  Fraunces,  at  the  corner  of  Broad  and 
Pearl  streets,  Washington  parted  with  his  officers  on  the  4th  of  De- 
cember, 1783.  It  was  a  scene  marked  by  great  tenderness  of  feeling 
on  the  part  of  all  present.  Filling  a  glass  with  wine  for  a  farewell 
sentiment,  Washington  turned  to  the  assembled  officers  and  said, 
"  With  a  heart  full  of  love  and  gratitude,  I  now  take  leave  of  you,  and 
most  devoutly  wish  that  your  latter  days  may  be  as  prosperous  and 
happy  as  your  former  ones  have  been  glorious  and  honorable. "  lie 
raised  the  glass  to  his  hps,  and  continued,  tk  I  cannot  come  to  each  of 
you  to  take  my  leave  ;  but  I  shall  be  obliged  if  each  one  will  come  and 
take  my  hand."  They  did  so.  None  could  speak.  They  all  embraced 
him  in  turn,  when  he  silently  left  the  room,  walked  to  Whitehall,  and 
entered  a  barge  to  convey  him  to  Paulus's  Hook  (now  Jersey  City),  on 
his  way  to  Annapolis  to  surrender  his  commission  to  the  Continental 
Congress  sitting  there.  What  a  sublime  leave-taking,  under  the  cir- 
cumstances ! 

New  York  now  began  the  task  of  recuperation.  The  evil  effects  of 
a  seven  years'  occupation  by  foreign  troops  were  seen  on  every  side. 
Its  buildings  had  been  consumed  by  fire,  its  churches  desecrated  and 
laid  waste,  its  commerce  desti'oyed  by  the  war,  its  treasury  empty, 
its  people  estranged  from  each  other  by  differences  in  political  opin- 
ions ;  feuds  existing  everywhere,  and  criminations  and  recriminations 
producing  deep  bitterness  of  feeling  in  society  in  general.  New  York 
was  compelled  to  begin  hfe  anew,  as  it  were.  The  tribute  which  it  had 
paid  to  the  cause  of  freedom  was  large,  but  had  been  freely  given. 

The  Whig  refugees  returned  to  the  citv,  many  of  them  to  find  their 
dwellings  in  ruins.  There  was  no  change  made  in  the  city  govern- 
ment. The  old  charter,  the  organic  law,  was  resumed,  and  in  Febru- 
ary, 1784,  James  Duane,  an  ardent  Whig  who  had  left  the  city  and 
had  returned  to  his  farm  near  (present)  Gramercy  Park  and  found  his 
home  burned  and  his  fortune  wrecked,  was  chosen  mayor.  Although 


46 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


the  vitality  of  the  city  had  been  paralyzed,  yet  men — high-minded  and 
energetic  men,  who  constitute  a  state — were  left,  and  their  influence 
was  soon  manifested  in  the  visible  aspects  of  public  spirit  and  a  revival 
of  commerce. 

Public  improvements  were  soon  projected,  but  not  much  was  done 
before  the  close  of  the  century.  The  population  numbered  about 
23,000,  and  there  was  only  here  and  there  a  dwelling  above  Murray 
Street  on  the  west  side,  and  Chatham  Square  on  the  east  side.  There 
was  not  at  that  time  a  bank  nor  insurance  company  in  the  city.  Wall 
Street,  where  they  now  abound,  was  then  the  most  elegant  part  of  the 
city,  where  the  aristocracy  resided,  and  yet  most  of  the  buildings  were 
of  wood,  roofed  with  shingles.  The  sides  of  many  were  so  covered. 
Brick  and  stone  were  seldom  used.  Between  Broadway  and  the  Hudson 
River,  above  Reade  Street,  might  be  seen  hundreds  of  cows  belonging 
to  the  citizens  grazing  in  the  fields. 

The  first  public  improvement  begun  was  the  filling  in  of  the  "  Col- 
lect"' or  Fresh  Water  Pond,  where  the  Tombs  or  Halls  of  Justice,  or 
City  Prison,  now  stand.  This  task  was  begun  about  1 79< >,  but  not 
completed  until  the  close  of  the  century.  Duane  and  Reade  streets 
were  opened  through  the  southern  portion  of  the  district.  At  near  the 
close  of  the  century  a  canal  was  cut  through  Lispenard's  meadows  from 
the  "  Collect"  to  the  Hudson  River,  along  the  line  of  (present)  Canal 
Street,  forty  feet  wide,  with  a  narrow  street  on  each  side  of  it.  This 
accounts  for  the  greater  width  of  Canal  Street.  This  canal  was 
spanned  at  the  junction  of  Broadway  and  Canal  Street  by  an  arched 
stone  bridge,  which  was  subsequently  buried  when  the  ground  was 
heightened  by  filling  in,  and  the  canal  disappeared.  That  bridge  may 
be  discovered  in  future  ages,  and  be  regarded  by  antiquarians  as  a 
structure  belonging  to  a  buried  city  older  than  Xew  York. 

The  "  Commons''  (City  Hall  Park)  yet  lay  open,  and  occupied  only 
bv  the  "  Xew  Bridewell,"  the  "  Xew  Jail,"  and  the  Almshouse  at  the 
northern  part.    Between  the  latter  and  the  Bridewell  stood  the  gallows. 

In  1790  the  first  sidewalks  in  the  city  were  laid  on  each  side  of  Broad- 
wav,  between  Yesey  and  Murray  streets.  They  were  of  stone  and 
brick,  and  were  so  narrow  that  only  two  persons  might  walk  abreast. 
Above  Murray  Street,  Broadway  passed  over  a  series  of  hills,  the 
highest  at  (present)  "Worth  Street.  The  grade  from  Duane  to  Canal 
Street  was  fixed  by  the  corporation  in  1707,  and  when  the  improve- 
ment Avas  made  Broadway  was  cut  through  the  hill  at  Worth  (formerly 
Anthony)  Street  about  twenty-three  feet  below  its  surface.  The 
streets  were  first  systematically  numbered  in  1793. 


OUTLINE  HISTORY,  1009-1830. 


47 


During  the  deliberations  of  the  State  Convention  of  New  York,  at 
Poughkeepsie  in  the  summer  of  178S,  to  consider  the  National  Consti- 
tution, the  city  was  much  excited  by  the  discussions  of  opposing  fac- 
tions. On  the  8th  of  July,  eighteen  days  before  that  instrument  was 
ratified  by  the  convention,  a  frigate  called  "  The  Federal  ship  Hamil- 
ton" manned  by  seamen  and  marines,  commanded  by  Commodore 
Nicholson  and  accompanied  l>y  a  vast  procession,  was  drawn  from  the 
Bowling  Green  to  Bayard's  farm,  near  Grand  Street,  where  tables  were 
spread  and  dinner  provided  for  about  five  thousand  people.  At  the 
head  was  a  table  of  circular  form,  somewhat  elevated,  at  which  were 
seated  members  of  Congress,  their  principal  officers,  foreign  ambassa- 
dors, and  other  persons  of  distinction.  From  this  table  diverged  thir- 
teen other  tables,  at  which  the  great  concourse  sat.  It  was  the  first 
procession  of  the  kind  ever  seen  in  the  city. 

Greenleafs  Patriotic  Register  spoke  so  sarcastically  of  this  "  Federal 
procession"  that  the  friends  of  the  Constitution  were  greatly  irritated  ; 
and  when  news  came  of  its  ratification,  a  mob  broke  into  Greenleafs 
office  and  destroyed  the  type  and  presses.  They  next  attacked  the 
house  of  John  Lamb,  in  Wall  Street,  which  was  so  well  defended  by 
the  owner  and  some  friends  below  armed  with  muskets,  and  by  his 
daughter,  a  maiden  sister,  and  a  colored  servant  stationed  in  the  attic 
with  a  plentiful  supply  of  Dutch  tiles  and  broken  bottles,  that  the  riot- 
ers soon  raised  the  siege. 

By  far  the  most  notable  event  in  the  history  of  the  city  of  New 
York  after  the  Revolution  was  the  organization  of  the  National  Gov- 
ernment under  the  new  Constitution,  and  the  inauguration  of  "Washing- 
ton as  the  first  President  of  the  United  States.  The  National  Consti- 
tution, framed  at  Philadelphia  in  17*7,  had  been  duly  ratified  in  1788, 
and  elections  for  electors  of  President  and  for  members  of  Congress 
had  been  held.  The  first  Congress  under  the  new  Constitution  was 
called  to  meet  at  New  York  on  the  4th  of  March,  f  789.  Only  a  few 
members  were  present  on  that  day,  and  it  was  not  until  the  6th  of 
April  that  a  sufficient  number  appeared  to  form  a  quorum.  On  that 
day  the  electoral  vote  was  counted,  and  George  "Washington  was  de- 
clared to  be  elected  President,  and  John  Adams  Vice-President. 

Adams  arrived  first.  He  was  met  at  King's  Bridge,  near  the  north- 
ern extremity  of  the  island,  on  the  21st  of  April,  by  both  houses  of 
Congress,  and  escorted  into  the  city  by  several  military  companies.  At 
the  City  Hall  he  delivered  an  inaugural  address.  AVashington  arrived 
soon  afterward.  His  journey  from  Mount  Vernon  had  been  a  continuous 
triumphal  march.    He  was  greeted  by  the  citizens  everywhere  with 


48 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


enthusiasm,  and  his  reception  at  Murray's  wharf  in  New  York  was  an 
event  long  to  be  remembered.  He  was  escorted  to  his  future  residence 
in  Cherry  Street,  near  Franklin  Square,  and  dined  with  Governor 
Clinton  at  the  same  house  where  he  had  parted  with  his  officers.  In 
the  evening  the  city  was  brilliantly  illuminated.  On  the  30th  of  April, 
upon  the  outer  gallery  of  Federal  Hall,  overlooking  Wall  and  Broad 
streets,  he  took  the  oath  of  office,  administered  by  Chancellor  Livings- 
ton in  the  presence  of  a  large  multitude  of  citizens  who  crowded  the 
two  streets  in  the  vicinity  of  the  hall.  When  Mi's.  Washington  arrived, 
a  month  later,  she  was  received  with  a  national  salute  of  thirteen  guns 
at  the  Battery. 

The  most  exciting  event  in  New  York  from  the  evacuation  of  the 
citv  until  the  organization  of  the  National  Government  was  a  riot 
known  as  "  The  Doctors'  Mob."  It  occurred  in  17S8.  Graves  in  the 
Potter's  Field  (now  "Washington  Square)  and  the  negro  burial-ground 
fat  Chambers  and  Iieade  streets,  east  of  Broadway),  and  in  private  cem- 
eteries, had  been  rifled  of  their  contents.  The  discovery  created  much 
public  excitement.  Rumor  exaggerated  the  facts,  and  every  physician 
in  the  citv  was  suspected  of  the  act.  The  hospital  on  Broadway,  the 
only  one  in  the  city,  suddenly  became  an  object  of  horror,  as  the  sus- 
pected recipients  of  the  stolen  dead  bodies.  One  day  a  student  there 
thoughtlessly  exhibited  a  limb  of  a  body  he  was  dissecting  to  some 
boys  playing  near.  They  told  the  story.  It  spread  over  the  city,  and 
very  soon  an  excited  multitude  appeared  before  the  hospital.  They 
broke  into  the  building  and  destroyed  some  fine  anatomical  prepara- 
tions, which  had  been  imported.  The  terrified  physicians  were  seized, 
and  would  have  been  murdered  by  the  mob  had  not  the  authorities 
rescued  them  and  placed  them  in  the  jail.  The  populace,  foiled, 
became  comparatively  quiet,  but  the  riot  was  renewed  with  more  vio- 
lence the  next  morning.  Hamilton.  Jay.  and  others  harangued  the 
rioters,  but  were  assailed  with  bricks  and  stones.  In  the  afternoon 
matters  became  worse,  and  toward  evening  the  mayor  appeared  with  a 
body  of  militia,  determined  to  fire  on  the  rioters  if  they  did  not  disperse 
or  desist.  The  friends  of  law  and  order  tried  to  prevent  bloodshed,  and 
beersed  the  mayor  not  to  fii*e  until  every  other  measure  had  failed. 
Again  thev  harangued  the  mob,  and  Avere  answered  by  a  shower  of 
missiles.  The  Baron  von  Steuben  begged  the  mayor  not  to  fire.  At 
that  moment  a  stone  struck  and  prostrated  him.  As  he  was  falling  he 
shouted,  "  Fire  !  Mayor,  fire  I"  The  mayor  no  longer  hesitated. 
He  ordered  the  militia  to  fire,  and  they  obeyed.  Five  of  the  rioters 
were  killed  and  several  were  wounded,  when  the  rest  dispersed. 


OUTLINE  HISTORY,  1609  1830. 


49 


Xew  York  was  the  seat  of  the  Colonial  Government  until  the  Revo- 
lution, and  from  ITSito  1797  it  was  the  State  capital,  when  Albany 
became  permanently  so.  During  that  period  two  sessions  of  the  State 
Legislature  were  held  at  Poughkeepsie,  and  three  at  Albany.  From 
17S5  to  1790  it  was  the  seat  of  the  National  Government,  part  of  the 
time  under  the  Confederation,  and  a  part  of  the  time  under  the  new 
( '(institution. 

During  the  residence  of  President  Washington  in  Xew  York,  from 
April,  ITS!',  until  the  autumn  of  1790,  he  occupied  first  the  house  of 
Osgood,  in  Cherry  Street,  and  after  February,  1790,  a  dwelling  on 
Broadway,  a  little  below  Trinity  Church,  which  was  subsequently  used 
as  a  hotel  called  "  The  Mansion  House."  His  public  and  private  life 
was  marked  by  much  simplicity.  His  house  was  plainly  furnished  ;  he 
held  public  receptions  on  Tuesdays,  had  congressional  dinner-parties 
on  Thursdays,  and  on  Friday  evenings  Mrs.  Washington  held  recep- 
tions. On  Saturday  he  rode  in  the  country  on  horseback  or  in  his  car- 
riage with  the  family,  often  taking  the  "  fourteen-mile  circuit"  on  the 
island.  On  Sundays  he  usually  attended  divine  service,  and  in  the 
evening  read  to  his  family,  receiving  no  visitors. 

"Washington  sometimes  attended  the  theatre  on  John  Street,  a  small 
wooden  structure  used  by  the  British  for  amateur  performances  during 
their  occupation  of  the  city.  It  was  then  called  "  The  Theatre  Royal," 
and  was  first  opened  by  them  in  January,  1777.  Its  playbills  were 
headed  "  Charity,"  and  sometimes  "  For  the  Benefit  of  the  Orphans 
and  Widows  of  Soldiers."  The  British  officers  were  the  actors,  and 
feminine  parts  were  played  by  young  subalterns.  When  Major  Andre 
was  in  the  city  he  was  actor  and  scene-painter. 

The  first  regular  theatre  in  Xew  York  was  erected  in  1750,  in  the 
rear  of  the  church  on  Xassau  Street,  late  the  Post-Office.  Hallam 
was  the  manager.  When  he  left  it  was  pulled  down.  A  second  was 
built  on  Beekman  Street,  near  Xassau  Street,  which  was  destroyed  by 
the  Sons  of  Liberty  during  the  Stamp  Act  excitement.  Another  was 
built  in  17<'>7  on  John  Street — an  unsightly  object  painted  red.  It  was 
used,  as  we  have  seen,  during  the  Revolution  ;  and  in  it  was  played,  in 
17*0,  the  first  American  drama  performed  on  a  regular  sta«:e  by  a  com- 
pany of  regular  comedians.  It  was  called  Tin-  Contrast,  and  was  writ- 
ten by  Royal  Tyler,  of  Boston.  The  first  native-born  American  actor 
(John  Martin)  was  a  New  Yorker,  and  first  appeared  on  the  stage  in 
New  York  as  Young  Nerval,  in  the  winter  of  1790.  The  Park  Thea- 
tre, which  remained  until  a  comparatively  few  years  ago,  was  first 
opened  early  in  1798. 


50 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


In  the  last  decade  of  the  eighteenth  century  New  York  City  was 
scourged  by  yellow  lever.  It  had  appeared  there  in  1712,  when  many 
died  of  the  disease.  It  broke  out  in  1791,  near  Burling  Slip,  but  it 
was  so  late  in  the  season  that  it  was  soon  checked  by  frosts.  It  reap- 
peared early  m  August,  1795,  and  792  persons  died  before  frosts  ended 
it.  It  made  a  more  dreadful  visit  in  1798,  beginning  at  the  latter  part 
of  July  and  ending  in  November.  About  2100  died  in  the  city,  besides 
almost  3oo  who  had  fled  from  it.  The  population  of  the  city  was  then 
about  55,000.  It  prevailed  more  slightly  in  1799,  1800,  1803  (when 
over  Goo  perished),  1805,  1819,  1822,  and  1823.  When  the  fever 
appeared  in  1805,  so  great  was  the  panic  that  one  third  of  the  popula- 
tion, then  numbering  75,000,  fled  to  the  country.  The  fugitives  were 
mostly  from  the  four  lower  wards  in  the  city. 

The  French  Revolution  caused  the  division  of  the  Americans  into 
two  great  parties — Federalists,  and  Republicans  or  Democrats.  The 
latter,  led  by  Jefferson,  espoused  the  cause  of  the  French  ;  the  former, 
led  by  Hamilton,  opposed  the  influence  of  the  revolutionists.  Demo- 
cratic societies  in  imitation  of  the  Jacobin  clubs  in  Paris  were  formed, 
and  in  secret  promoted  violent  opposition  to  Washington's  administra- 
tion. These  politicians  encouraged  "  Citizen  Genet"  in  his  defiance  of 
our  government,  lie  met  with  an  enthusiastic  reception  in  New  York. 
The  liberty  cap  Avas  hoisted  on  the  flagstaff  of  the  Tontine  Coffee- 
House  neai-  the  foot  of  Wall  Street,  tricolored  cockades  were  worn, 
and  the  "  Marseillaise"  was  chanted  in  the  streets  of  New  York.  The 
Federalists  denounced  the  conduct  of  the  French  minister.  They  were 
backed  by  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  and  warmly  sustained  the  Presi- 
dent's proclamation  of  neutrality. 

When  Jay's  treaty  was  negotiated,  the  "  French  party,"  as  the 
Democrats  were  called,  opposed  it  with  much  violence.  An  anony- 
mous handbill  called  a  mass-meeting  in  front  of  the  City  Hall  in  Wall 
Street,  on  July  18,  1795,  to  consider  the  treaty.  Both  parties  attended 
in  full  force.  Aaron  Burr  was  the  chief  speaker  for  the  Democrats  ; 
Alexander  Hamilton  was  the  chief  speaker  for  the  Federalists.  In  the 
course  of  the  proceedings  a  scene  of  violence  ensued.  Hamilton 
mounted  the  "  stoop"  of  a  Dutch  house  at  the  corner  of  Broad  and 
Wall  streets,  and  began  to  speak  in  favor  of  the  treaty.  He  was 
dragged  to  the  ground  by  the  opposing  party  and  roughly  handled  in 
the  street.  Then  the  Democrats  ran  to  the  Bowling  Green,  shouting 
and  huzzaing,  where  the  treaty  was  burned  under  the  united  folds  of 
the  French  and  American  flags  to  the  sound  of  the  Carmagnole. 

These  turbulent  events  in  New  York  and  elsewhere,  and  the  support 


OUTLINE  HISTORY,  1609-1830. 


51 


given  by  the  secret  Democratic  societies  to  the  Whiskey  Insurrection 
the  year  before,  caused  "Washington  to  denounce  secret  associations  as 
dangerous  to  the  public  welfare.  The  Tammany  Society  or  Columbian 
Order,  which  had  been  formed  at  the  beginning:  of  Washington's 
administration  as  a  patriotic  and  benevolent  institution,  regarding  itself 
as  pointed  at,  and  being  largely  composed  of  Republicans  or  Demo- 
crats, was  transformed  into  a  political  organization  in  opposition  to  the 
Federalists.  It  still  exists,  and  plays  an  important  part  in  the  politics 
of  the  city  and  State. 

Merchants  of  New  York  formed  a  Tontine  Association  and  built  the 
"  Tontine  Coffee-House' '  at  the  corner  of  Wall  and  Water  Streets.  It 
was  opened  in  1704  as  a  sort  of  Merchants'  Exchange.  The  shares 
were  £2<>0  each.  Each  subscriber  might  select  a  nominee  for  each 
share  held  by  him,  during  whose  lifetime  he  or  she  was  to  receive  an 
equal  proportion  of  the  net  profits  from  the  investment  of  the  fund. 
When  the  number  of  nominees  should  be  reduced  to  seven  by  death, 
the  property  was  to  be  conveyed  to  the  survivors  in  fee  simple.  That 
number  was  reached  in  187<'».  The  longevity  of  the  nominees  has  been 
remarkable.  Of  the  two  hundred  and  three  at  the  beginning,  fifty-one 
were  living  sixty  years  afterward. 

On  the  south-east  side  of  the  Bowling  Green  a  spacious  and  elegant 
mansion  was  built,  in  1700,  for  the  purpose  of  a  residence  for  the 
President  of  the  United  States.  It  was  then  supposed  New  York  City 
would  be  the  permanent  seat  of  the  National  Government.  When  that 
government  was  transferred  to  Philadelphia,  this  mansion  was  devoted 
to  the  use  of  the  governors  of  the  State  of  New  York,  while  this  city 
was  the  seat  of  the  State  Government.  In  it  Governors  Clinton  and 
Jay  resided.  It  was  known  as  the  Government  House.  It  was  built 
of  red  brick,  with  Ionic  columns  forming  a  portico  in  front.  The 
building  was  on  a  slight  elevation  of  ground. 


CHAPTER  V. 


AT  the  beginning  of  this  century  the  city  of  New  York  contained 
almost  61,000  inhabitants.  The  city  proper  was  bounded  on 
Broadway  by  Anthony  Street,  on  the  Hudson  River  by  Harrison 
Street,  and  on  the  East  River  by  Catharine  Street.  Within  these 
limits  the  dwellings  were  much  scattered,  with  gardens  and  vacant  lots 
between  them.  Broadway  then  ended  at  Astor  Place,  then  the  south- 
ern boundary  of  the  farm  of  Captain  Randall,  afterward  the  endow- 
ment of  the  Sailors'  Snug  Harbor. 

The  old  Boston  post-road  turned  eastward  below  Madison  Square, 
and  running  along  the  Rose  Hill  farm  made  its  crooked  way  to  Harlem. 
The  Rose  Hill  farm  was  owned  by  General  Gates.  His  house  stood 
near  the  corner  of  (present)  Twenty-second  Street  and  Second  Avenue, 
and  there  he  died  in  1S0<>.  A  weeping-willow  tree  that  stood  at  the 
entrance  to  the  lane  leading  to  the  mansion  flourished  on  the  corner  of 
Twenty-second  Street  and  Third  Avenue  until  a  few  years  ago.  Near 
there  a  middle  road  branched  off  and  led  directly  to  Harlem.  The 
Kingsbridge  or  Bloomingdale  Road  was  a  continuation  of  the  Bowery 
Lane,  passing  through  Manhattanville  to  Kingsbridge,  and  was  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Albany  post-road. 

Harlem  had  been  founded  by  the  early  Dutch  settlers  of  Manhattan 
Island.  There  farmers  seated  themselves  and  raised  vegetables  for 
New  Amsterdam,  on  the  fertile  Harlem  Plains.  Greenwich  and  Chelsea 
were  two  little  villages  on  the  west  side  of  the  island,  which,  like 
Harlem,  have  been  swallowed  in  the  voracious  maw  of  the  great  city. 
On  the  site  of  "Washington  Square  was  the  Potter's  Field,  a  place  of 
sepulture  for  the  poor  and  strangers. 

Public  gardens  had  now  become  favorite  places  of  resort,  the  most 
famous  of  which  were  the  "  Indian  Queen's"  and  u  Tyler's"  at  Green- 
wich, "  Vauxhall  "  at  the  junction  of  Warren  and  Greenwich  Streets, 
and  afterward  "  Vauxhall  "  between  Lafayette  Place  and  Fourth 
Avenue,  on  the  site  of  the  Astor  Library.  Near  the  junction  of  Broad- 
way and  Thirty-fourth  Street,  on  the  Bloomingdale  Road,  was  the 
'*  Strawberry  Hill  House,"  and  at  the  junction  of  Charlton  and  A^arick 


OUTLINE  HISTORY,  1G09-1830. 


53 


streets  was  the  "  Richmond  Hill  •'  mansion,  built  in  1770,  where 
Washington  had  his  quarters  for  a  while  in  the  summer  of  1776.  It 
w  as  the  property  and  residence  of  Aaron  Burr  at  the  time  of  his  duel 
with  Hamilton,  in  IS114.  He  sold  it  to  John  Jacob  Astor,  and  it  was 
converted  into  a  house  of  summer  entertainment  and  the  Richmond 
11  ill  Theatre.  The  "  Chelsea  House"  was  upon  elevated  ground  not  far 
from  the  (present)  General  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church. 

Pleasant  country  seats  now  adorned  the  island,  some  of  which  be- 
came historically  famous.  On  the  Incleberg  (Murray  Hill)  was  the  fine 
mansion  of  the  eminent  Quaker  merchant  of  the  Revolution,  Robert 
Murray,  father  of  the  grammarian,  whose  patriotic  wife,  by  her  personal 
charms,  conversation,  and  wine,  detained  the  British  officers  on  the  day 
they  crossed  over  from  Long  Island,  long  enough  to  allow  Putnam, 
with  the  remnant  of  the  American  army  left  in  the  city,  to  pass  by, 
hidden  by  intervening  woods,  and  safely  join  the  American  army  on 
Harlem  Heights.  A  little  further  up  the  Bloomingdale  Road  is  the 
Apthorpe  mansion,  where  Washington  gave  instructions  to  Nathan 
Hale  when  he  went  on  his  fatal  errand  to  Long  Island,  and  where  the 
commander-in-chief  narrowly  escaped  capture  by  the  troops  whose 
officers  were  detained  by  Mrs.  Murray.  Near  Carmansville  is  "  The 
Grange,"  the  country  seat  of  General  Hamilton  at  the  time  of  his 
death  ;  and  upon  Harlem  Heights  near  the  High  Bridge  is  the  mansion 
of  Roger  Morris,  used  as  headquarters  by  Washington  in  177t>,  both 
well  preserved.    It  is  known  as  the  Jumel  estate. 

The  hospital  already  mentioned  Avas  the  only  one  in  the  city  at  the 
beo-innin<>:  of  this  century.  The  corner-stone  was  laid  bv  Governor 
Tryon  in  1773.  A  State  prison,  the  second  one  built  in  the  United 
States,  was  completed  in  1790.  It  was  a  large  stone  building  in  Green- 
wich Village,  on  the  shores  of  the  Hudson.  The  only  medical  school  in 
the  city  was  the  Medical  Faculty  of  Columbia  College,  organized  in 
170S.  There  was  a  small  city  dispensary  instituted  in  17!>»i  and  located 
in  the  rear  of  the  present  City  Hall,  fronting  on  Tryon  Roav. 

Of  the  benevolent  institutions  in  the  city  at  the  beginning  of  this 
century,  the  most  prominent  Avere  the  Marine  Society,  incorporated  in 
1770  ;  the  Clamber  of  Commerce.,  incorporated  the  same  year,  with  pro- 
visions for  beneATolent  work  ;  the  Humane  Society,  founded  in  1787  ; 
the  Manumission  Society,  established  chiefly  by  the  Friends,  or 
Quakers,  in  1785  ;  the  Sailors  Sn>/</  Harbor,  founded  by  Captain  Ran- 
dall in  1801  ;  the  General  Society  of  Mechanics  and  Tradesmen,  incor- 
porated in  1792,  as  an  almoner  for  the  necessities  of  the  families  of  its 


54 


history:  of  new  york  city. 


members  ;  the  Tammany  Society,  or  Columbian  Order,  founded  in 
1789  ;  the  St.  Andrew's  Society,  and  several  Masonic  lodges. 

The  principal  chinch  edifices  were  the  South  Dutch  Reformed,  in 
Garden  Street  ;  the  Middle  Dutch  Reformed,  corner  of  Nassau  and 
Liberty  streets  (late  the  city  Post-Office),  in  which  the  English  service 
was  first  introduced  in  1704  ;  *  the  North  Dutch  Reformed,  on  William 
Street  between  Fulton  and  Ann  streets  ;  Trinity  Church,  the  principal 
of  seven  Episcopal  churches,  the  most  remote  from  the  City  Hall  then 
being  St.  Mark's,  at  Eleventh  Street  and  Second  Avenue,  built  in  1705  ; 
the  Lutheran  Church,  on  the  corner  of  William  and  Frankfort  streets  ; 
German  Reformed,  in  Nassau  Street  near  John  Street,  built  in  1765  ; 
First  Presbyterian  Church,  now  on  Fifth  Avenue;  the  "  Brick  Church," 
in  Beekman  Street,  at  an  angular  lot  known  as  "  the  Vineyard,1'  built 
in  1707  ;  the  Rutgers  Street  Church,  erected  in  1797  ;  Scotch  Presby- 
terian Church,  on  Cedar  Street,  built  in  1758  ;  and  the  Reformed 
Presbyterian  Church,  in  Chambers  Street,  erected  in  1797. 

There  were  two  Baptist  churches.  The  first  erected  in  the  city  was 
built  of  Milestone,  in  Gold  Street  near  Fulton,  in  1790  ;f  the  second  was 
in  Oliver  Street,  near  Chatham  Square,  built  in  1795.  The  Methodists 
had  three  churches — one  in  John  Street,  built  in  1768  ;  another  in 
Forsyth  Street,  erected  in  179D  ;  and  a  third  in  Duane  Street,  built  in 
1795.  The  Friends  had  a  meeting-house  in  Greene  Street,  near  Lib- 
erty, which  they  built  about  1703.  It  was  rebuilt  on  a  larger  scale  in 
Liberty  Street  in  1S02,  and  was  afterward  transformed  into  a  seed-store 
by  Grant  Thorburn.  Their  second  meeting-house  was  built  on  Pearl 
Street  in  1775,  and  was  taken  down  in  1824.  The  Moravians  had  a 
church  in  Fulton  Street,  near  William  Street,  erected  in  1751,  and  the 
Roman  Catholics  had  one  church — St.  Peter's — on  the  corner  of  Church 
and  Barclay  streets,  erected  in  1786.  The  Jews  had  a  synagogue  on 
Mill  Street,  a  lane  near  Hanover  Square,  built  in  1730. 

The  only  public  library  in  the  city  at  the  beginning  of  the  century 
was  the  Society  Library,  founded  in  1754.  The  Post-Office  was  kept 
in  a  room  of  the  dwelling  of  the  postmaster  (General  Theodore  Bailey), 
on  the  corner  of  William  and  Garden  streets.    It  contained  about  one 

*  The  hell  of  this  church  (now  used  by  the  Reformed  Church  in  Lafayette  Place)  was 
made  in  Amsterdam  in  1731,  when  many  citizens  cast  in  silver  coins  while  the  metal 
was  in  fusion  before  the  casting.  It  was  the  gift  of  Abraham  De  Peyster,  who  was 
mayor  of  New  York  1691-95,  and  died  in  1728,  while  this  edifice  was  a-building.  He 
directed  in  his  will  that  a  bell  should  be  procured  for  it  at  the  expense  of  his  estate. 

f  The  stone  of  this  building  was  afterward  worked  into  the  church  edifice  on  the 
corner  of  Mott  and  Broome  streets. 


OUTLINE  HISTORY,  1G09-1830. 


55 


hundred  boxes.  Three  banks  were  in  operation  in  the  city,  one  of 
which  was  a  branch  of  the  United  States  Bank,  whose  capital  was 
§10,000,000.  There  were  also  three  insurance  companies,  and  these, 
like  the  banks,  were  in  Wall  Street.  From  that  time  "Wall  Street  has 
been  the  financial  centre  of  the  city.  There  were  then  seven  daily 
newspapers  published  in  the  city  of  New  York,  one  weekly  paper, 
two  medical  journals  (one  published  quarterly  and  one  semi-annually), 
and  a  religious  weekly  published  by  T.  &  J.  Swords,  Avho  established 
the  first  permanent  book-publishing  establishment  in  the  city  of  New 
York. 

The  Park  Theatre  was  then  the  only  playhouse  in  the  city.  There 
were  four  principal  public  market-houses  and  two  ferries — one  to 
Brooklyn,  the  other  to  Jersey  City.  The  wells  in  the  city  were  un- 
wholesome, and  water  from  the  "  Tea-water  Pump,"  at  the  corner  of 
Pearl  and  Chatham  streets,  was  carried  about  the  town  and  sold  for  a 
penny  a  gallon.  The  Manhattan  Water  Company  was  organized  at 
about  this  time,  with  banking  privileges.  They  erected  a  distributing 
reservoir  on  Chambers  Street — then  "out  of  town" — pumped  the 
water  from  wells  sunk  in  the  vicinity,  and  distributed  it  through  bored 
logs.  So  early  as  177-1  Christopher  Codes  had  proposed  to  bring  water 
into  the  city  from  the  Bronx  River,  in  Westchester  County,  but  the 
scheme  was  not  favorably  received  ;  but  he  was  allowed  to  construct 
water-works  at  the  public  expense  on  the  east  side  of  Broadway,  near 
Anthony  Street,  in  1776.  The  water  was  pumped  from  wells  and  the 
''Collect."  The  scheme  was  a  failure.  These  were  the  forerunners 
of  the  grand  Croton  supply  begun  in  1842. 

The  corner-stone  of  the  present  old  City  Hall  was  laid  in  1803,  and 
it  was  finished  in  1812,  at  a  cost  of  half  a  million  dollars.  Meanwhile 
the  most  important  practical  achievement  in  science  and  mechanics  in 
modem  times,  in  its  influence  upon  commerce  and  civilization,  occurred. 
It  was  the  permanent  establishment  of  navigation  by  steam.  Robei  t 
Fulton  and  Chancellor  Livingston  had  constructed  the  steamboat 
Clermont,  and  early  in  September,  1807,  she  made  a  successful  voyage 
with  passengers  to  Albany,  in  spite  of  wind  and  tide,  and  continued 
regular  trips  thereafter  between  New  York  and  Albany.  The  com- 
mercial value  of  this  event  to  the  city  of  New  York  cannot  be  estimated. 

During  the  first  decade  of  this  century  De  Witt  Clinton  was  mayor 
of  New  York,  and  under  his  auspices  the  initiatory  steps  towa id  the 
establishment  of  the  free  public  school  system  in  New  York  were 
taken.  In  1805  the  Public  School  Society,  formed  chiefly  by  the 
Society  of  Friends,  was  incorporated,  and  Mr.  Clinton  was  its  first 


56 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


president.  Their  first  school  was  opened  on  Madison  Street  near  Pearl 
Street,  with  forty  pupils,  gathered  chiefly  from  the  humble  and  desti- 
tute families  of  the  city.  Many  were  taught  free,  and  others  at  a  mere 
nominal  price.  This  society  did  noble  work  in  the  cause  of  education 
until  1S42,  when  ward  schools  were  established.  This  was  followed  by 
the  present  public  free  school  system,  under  a  Board  of  Education. 
Then  the  Public  School  Society  passed  out  of  existence.  Its  mission 
was  accomplished.  Its  one  school  with  forty  scholars  has  expanded 
into  almost  three  hundred  schools  and  a  free  college,  with  thousands 
of  pupils. 

Until  1810  the  ferry-boats  atXew  York  were  skiffs  or  row-boats  and 
pirogues.  In  1  SI 4  the  horse-boat — a  horizontal  treadmill — was  intro- 
duced, and  the  same  year  a  steam  ferry-boat  was  placed  on  the  river 
between  New  York  and  Brooklyn.  It  remained  the  only  steam  ferry- 
boat for  many  years.    The  horse-boats  disappeared  in  1825. 

The  city  was  now  extending  gradually  northward,  and  streets  were 
laid  out  beyond  the  Canal  Street  marsh.  The  "  Collect"  was  filled  up, 
and  the  citizens  began  to  covet  residences  on  the  wooded  hills  beyond 
Canal  Street.  This  movement  of  the  population  was  stimulated  by 
the  yellow  fever,  which  drove  a  third  of  the  people  of  the  city  to  the 
fields  and  woods  north  of  the  "  Collect"  or  Fresh  Water  Pond  in  1805. 

From  1811  various  causes  checked  the  growth  of  the  city  temporarily. 
Embargoes  to  force  the  British  Government  to  be  just  had  fearfully 
smitten  its  commerce.  In  1811  a  fire  occurred  in  Chatham  Street, 
which  consumed  nearly  one  hundred  houses.  In  the  summer  of  1812 
war  was  declared  against  Great  Britain,  which  gave  a  check  to  all 
foreign  commerce,  and  the  chief  industry — the  mercantile — of  the  city 
of  New  York  was  paralyzed. 

From  time  to  time  the  people  were  excited  by  menaces  of  attacks  by 
the  British  forces.  They  were  notably  so  in  the  summer  of  1814. 
There  Avas  a  powerful  British  force  in  Chesapeake  Bay,  and  a  block- 
ading squadron  appeared  on  the  New  England  coasts.  Mayor  Clinton 
issued  a  stirring  address  to  the  people  on  the  immediate  danger  of  an 
attack,  recommending  the  militia  to  be  in  readiness,  and  calling  upon 
the  citizens  to  aid  in  completing  the  defences  of  the  city.  A  mass- 
meeting  of  citizens  was  held  in  the  City  Hall  Park  on  August  9th, 
when  a  committee  of  the  common  council  was  chosen,  to  whom  Avas 
given  ample  power  to  direct  the  inhabitants  in  efforts  to  secure  the 
safety  of  the  city.  To  this  end  men  of  every  class  in  society  worked 
daily  in  squads,  under  chosen  leaders,  on  fortifications  near  Harlem  and 
at  Brooklyn.    Members  of  churches  led  by  their  pastors,  and  those  of 


OUTLINE  HISTORY,  1609-1830. 


57 


benevolent  societies  and  the  various  trades  with  chosen  leaders,  went 
out  in  groups  to  the  patriotic  task,  under  appropriate  banners.  These 
workers  were  designated  as  follows  by  the  poet  Wood  worth,  who  was 
a  participant  in  their  labors  : 

"Plumbers,  founders,  dyers,  tinners,  tanners,  shavers, 
Sweeps,  clerks  and  criers,  jewellers,  engravers, 
Clothiers,  drapers,  players,  cartmen,  hatters,  tailors, 
Gaugers,  sealers,  weighers,  carpenters,  and  sailors." 

The  zeal  of  the  people  was  intense,  and  very  soon  New  York  was 
well  defended  by  fortifications  superintended  in  their  construction  by 
Joseph  G.  Swift,  the  first  graduate  of  West  Point  Military  Academy, 
and  by  militia,  who  flocked  thither  from  the  river  counties. 

Although  a  large  proportion  of  the  citizens  of  New  York  were 
opposed  to  the  war  at  the  beginning,  once  begun  their  patriotism 
flamed  out  conspicuously  by  public  acts.  At  a  meeting  held  in  the 
Park  five  days  after  the  declaration  of  war,  they  pledged  their  "  lives, 
their  fortunes,  and  their  sacred  honor"  in  support  of  their  "  beloved 
country. "  They  made  their  words  good.  Men  and  money  were  freely 
contributed  to  the  cause,  and  four  months  after  the  declaration  of 
war  twenty-six  privateers,  carrying  212  guns,  all  fully  manned,  were 
fitted  out  in  the  port  of  New  York.  Throughout  the  entire  war  the 
patriotism  of  the  citizens  was  conspicuously  displayed.  And  when,  on 
Saturday  evening,  February  11,  1815,  the  British  sloop-of-war  Favorite 
arrived  at  New  York  with  the  treaty  of  peace  ratified  by  the  British 
Government,  the  unexpected  glad  tidings  created  intense  joyfulness  in 
the  city.  The  streets  were  soon  thronged  with  the  happy  people,  and 
as  a  placard  headed  "  Peace' "  was  printed  at  the  office  of  the  Mercan- 
tile Advertiser  and  was  thrown  out  of  a  window  into  the  street,  it  was 
eagerly  caught  up  and  read  to  the  crowd,  who  received  the  news  with 
shouts  of  joy.  The  immediate  effect  upon  business  was  wonderful. 
Coin,  which  was  ten  per  cent  premium,  fell  to  two  per  cent  in  forty- 
eight  hours.  Sugars  fell  from  $2G  a  hundredweight  to  §12.50  ;  tea 
from  S2.25  to  $1  a  pound. 

In  1811  a  system  of  laying  out  the  city  above  Houston  Street  was 
adopted,  and  surveys  were  begun.  The  work  was  somewhat  inter- 
rupted by  the  war.  It  was  completed  in  1821.  The  streets  were  laid 
out  in  rectangles  above  Houston  Street.  Beginning  at  one,  they  were 
numbered  upward  to  the  northern  extremity  of  the  island.  These  were 
intersected  by  avenues,  numbering  westward  from  the  eastern  side  of 
the  island  to  the  Hudson  River.    First  Avenue  was  a  continuation  of 


58 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Allen  Street.  Between  it  and  the  East  River  were  Avenues  A,  B, 
and  C. 

The  war  created  utter  confusion  among  politicians.  The  men  of 
each  party,  for  various  reasons,  had  abandoned  old  creeds  and  adopted 
new  ones.  The  most  prominent  result  was  the  almost  entire  dissolution 
of  the  Federal  party  and  the  breaking  up  of  the  Republican  party  into 
factions.  From  the  election  of  Madison  to  the  presidency  in  1809  the 
Republicans  in  New  York  were  called  Madisonians.  To  this  party  the 
Tammany  Society  adhered,  and  their  hall,  built  in  1811,  was  the  ren- 
dezvous of  the  Madisonians.  At  the  close  of  the  war  the  Republican 
party  was  split  into  two  great  divisions,  called  respectively  Madisoni- 
ans and  Clintonians,  the  latter  being  adherents  of  De  Witt  Clinton, 
who  in  1818  was  elected  governor  of  the  State  of  New  York.  He 
had  personally  urged  upon  the  attention  of  the  people  the  great  scheme 
for  the  construction  of  the  Erie  Canal  ;  now  he  brought  his  official 
influence  to  bear  upon  it,  and  it  was  completed  in  1825. 

The  Hist  regular  line  of  packet  ships  between  New  York  and  Liverpool 
was  established  in  1*17  by  Isaac  Wright  A:  Son,  Francis  Thompson, 
Benjamin  Marshall,  Jeremiah  Thompson,  and  James  Cropper.  It  was 
called  the  "Black  Hall  Line.'1  and  consisted  of  four  ships.  A  packet 
sailed  the  first  day  of  every  month.  Soon  afterward  Byrnes,  Trimble 
<te  Co.  established  the  "  Red  Star  Line,'1  of  four  ships,  one  sailing  on 
the  24th  of  each  month.  These  were  soon  followed  by  the  establish- 
ment of  the  "  Swallow  Tail  Line,"  by  Fish,  Crinnell  &  Co.,  of  four 
ships,  which  sailed  on  the  8th  of  each  month.  Meanwhile  four  ships 
had  been  added  to  the  Black  Ball  Line,"  but  in  1818  there  was  a 
fleet  of  sixteen  packet-ships  sailing  from  New  York,  with  a  weekly 
departure. 

The  war  had  left  the  country  in  an  impoverished  condition,  but  its 
recuperation  was  wonderful.  Commerce  had  rapidly  revived.  The 
growth  of  the  city  and  its  trade  was  abnormal,  and  a  commercial 
revulsion  occurred  in  1818-19,  in  which  New  York  merchants  suffered 
severely. 

The  yellow  fever  appeared  in  1819.  It  soon  disappeared,  but  its  visit 
in  1822,  and  especially  in  1823,  was  very  fatal,  and  produced  a  great 
panic  Hitherto  it  had  appeared  at  first  in  the  vicinity  of  the  East 
River  ;  now  it  began  in  Rector  Street,  on  the  Hudson  River  side, 
which  had  always  been  regarded  as  a  particularly  healthy  locality. 
The  disease  was  now  regarded  with  peculiar  consternation.  All  per- 
sons who  were  able  fled  from  the  city.  The  town  south  of  the  Park 
was  fenced  off  and  nearly  deserted,  and  all  intercourse  with  the  "  in- 


OUTLINE  HISTORY,  1609-1830. 


59 


fected  district,"  as  all  within  this  temporary  wall  was  called,  was 
strictly  forbidden.  The  residents  within  it  who  were  unwilling  to  leave 
their  homes  were  forcibly  removed  from  them  by  the  Board  of  Health. 
The  city  became  an  almost  absolute  solitude,  broken  only  by  the  noise 
of  moving  hearses  and  sad  funeral  processions  of  a  few  near  relatives  of 
the  dead.  The  city  government  fled  to  Greenwich  Tillage  (now  the 
Ninth  Ward),  and  there  performed  their  official  duties.  The  fields  and 
woods  beyond  Canal  Street  and  at  the  upper  part  of  Broadway  were 
tilled  with  fugitives,  and  this  panic  materially  stimulated  the  improve- 
ment of  property  in  that  vicinity.  The  city  then  contained  about 
125,000  inhabitants. 

In  182-t  Lafayette  came  to  the  United  States  as  the  guest  of  the 
nation.  He  arrived  at  New  York  in  the  ship  Cadmus,  at  the  middle  of 
August.  His  visit  was  a  great  event  in  the  social  history  of  New 
York.  He  first  landed  on  Staten  Island  on  Sunday,  and  remained 
there,  the  guest  of  ex-Governor  Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  until  Monday, 
when  he  was  escorted  over  the  bay  by  a  large  naval  procession  and 
landed  at  Castle  Garden,  while  peals  of  bells  and  booming  of  cannon 
gave  him  a  noisy  but  hearty  welcome.  From  the  Battery  he  was 
escorted  to  the  City  Hall,  where  he  was  received  by  the  corporation 
and  welcomed  by  Mayor  Paulding.  During  his  sojourn  in  New  York 
he  had  daily  receptions  at  the  City  Hall,  where  thousands  of  citizens 
waited  upon  him.  On  the  evening  of  the  8th  of  September  there  was 
a  grand  performance  at  the  Park  Theatre  in  his  honor.  Some  of  the 
playbills  were  printed  on  white  satin. 

The  next  year  New  York  and  its  surrounding  waters  became  the 
theatre  of  one  of  the  most  momentous  events  in  the  history  of  the  city 
and  State.  The  great  Erie  Canal,  dimly  dreamed  of  by  prescient 
minds  at  the  beginning  of  the  century,  was  completed  that  year,  and 
the  event  was  celebrated  with  most  imposing  ceiemonies  at  New  York. 
It  was  the  consummation  of  a  scheme  to  connect  the  waters  of  the 
Great  Lakes  with  the  Atlantic  Ocean  by  means  of  an  artificial  river 
three  hundred  and  sixtv  miles  in  length,  and  the  grand  Stream  of  the 
Hudson.  The  United  States  Government  had  been  asked  to  construct 
it.  It  refused  ;  When  the  State  of  New  York,  prompted  by  the 
energy  and  foresight  of  some  of  its  leading  citizens,  resolved  to  do  the 
work  unaided.  The  Legislature  was  induced  to  appoint  a  board  of 
Canal  Commissioners  in  1811,  with  full  power  to  act.  Tbe  war  of  1812 
caused  a  suspension  of  the  scheme.  At  the  beginning  of  1816  it  was 
revived  by  a  few  citizens  of  New  York,  among  the  most  prominent  of 
whom  was  De  "Witt  Clinton,  who  had  taken  great  interest  in  the 


60 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


project  from  the  beginning.  They  called  a  public  meeting  ;  William 
Bayard  was  its  chairman,  and  John  Pintard  its  secretary.  A  memorial 
to  the  Legislature  was  adopted,  and  in  April  a  new  board  of  Canal 
Commissioners  was  appointed,  with  Clinton  as  president.  A  law  was 
passed  authorizing  the  construction  of  the  canal,  and  providing  funds 
for  the  same.  It  was  vehemently  opposed.  It  was  ridiculed,  during 
almost  the  seven  years  of  its  progress  to  completion,  as  "  Clinton's 
ditch/'  The  ground  was  first  broken  on  the  4th  of  July,  1817,  near 
Rome,  N.  Y.  The  middle  section  was  completed  in  the  fall  of  1S19, 
and  the  first  boat  floated  upon  it  between  Utica  and  Rome,  with  Gov- 
ernor Clinton  and  others  as  passengers.  When  the  great  work  was 
completed  the  city  of  New  York  was  selected  as  the  place  for  celebrat- 
ing the  triumph.  An  account  of  that  celebration  may  be  found  in  a 
future  chapter. 

The  year  1S25  was  remarkable  for  other  notable  events  in  the  city  of 
New  York — namely,  the  introduction  of  illuminating  gas,  the  begin- 
ning of  the  erection  of  the  Merchants'  Exchange,  the  first  appearance 
of  the  Italian  opera  and  the  Sunday  newspaper,  and  the  first  move- 
ment toward  founding  the  National  Academy  of  Design.  The  city 
then  contained  166,000  inhabitants,  was  divided  into  twelve  wards, 
and  had  two  hundred  and  forty  avenues,  streets,  and  lanes  designated 
by  names.  It  then  began  to  grow  at  the  rate  of  1000  or  1500  houses  a 
year.  It  contained  ninety  churches  (including  a  Hebrew  synagogue), 
of  which  seventy-one  belonged  to  five  denominations.  The  Presby- 
terians had  twenty-one,  Episcopalians  seventeen,  Baptists  fourteen, 
Reformed  Dutch  twelve,  and  Methodists  seven.  There  were  three 
public  libraries,  one  college  (Columbia),  two  medical  colleges,  eight 
(almost)  free  schools,  two  high  schools,  two  medical  colleges,  one 
eye  infirmary  and  a  city  dispensary,  two  hospitals  and  one  lunatic 
asylum,  one  medical  society,  about  twenty-five  charitable  and  benev- 
olent societies,  and  about  twenty  societies  for  the  dissemination  of  the 
Christian  religion.  There  were  ten  daily,  seven  semi-Aveekly,  and 
eighteen  weekly  newspapers  ;  four  magazines  (two  of  them  religious 
and  one  medical),  and  seven  principal  book-publishers  in  the  city.  In 
1825  the  first  Sunday  newspaper  published  in  New  York  Avas  issued. 
It  was  the  Sunday  Courier,  published  by  Joseph  C.  Melcher  at  the 
Tontine  Coffee-IIouse,  on  the  corner  of  Wall  and  Water  streets. 

There  was,  at  that  time,  an  Academy  of  Fine  Arts,  a  Lyceum  of 
Natural  History,  an  Athenaeum,  a  Historical  Society  (founded  in  1804), 
and  a  Horticultural  Society.  There  were  eleven  public  markets,  five 
public  prisons,  a  State  prison,  a  House  of  Refuge,  and  an  almshouse. 


OUTLINE  HISTORY,  1609-1830. 


6] 


There  were  nineteen  banks,  and  ten  marine  and  thirty-two  fire  insur- 
ance companies,  with  a  well-organized  volunteer  fire  department. 

The  chief  public  buildings  were  the  elegant  City  Hall  in  the  Park, 
built  of  marble  ;  the  Masonic  Hall,  on  Broadway,  nearly  opposite  the 
hospital,  and  the  Merchants'  Exchange,  then  just  begun,  on  Wall  Street 
below  William  Street.  For  public  amusement  the  citizens  had  the 
American  Academy  of  Fine  Arts  on  Barclay  Street,  the  Rotunda  in 
the  Park,  where  panoramic  paintings  were  exhibited,  three  museums, 
three  public  gardens,  two  circuses,  and  four  theatres.  The  commerce 
and  manufactures  of  the  city  were  now  extensive.  The  value  of  the 
total  foreign  commerce  (imports  and  exports)  of  the  district  from  1821 
to  1830  averaged  about  $58,000,000,  or  37  per  cent  of  that  of  the  whole 
United  States.  The  district  embraced  the  greater  portion  of  Long 
Island,  Brooklyn,  Staten  Island,  the  New  Jersey  shore  above  Staten 
Island,  including  Jersey  City  and  the  shores  of  the  Hudson  River.  The 
assessed  valuation  of  property  in  the  city  of  New  York  in  1825  was 
above  $100,000,000,  on  which  a  little  less  than  $39,000  taxes  were  paid 
annually. 

Such  was  New  York  City  at  the  end  of  the  first  quarter  of  the  pres- 
ent century — the  dawn  of  its  new  era  of  growth  and  prosperity.  And 
here  the  narrative  sketched  in  brief  outline,  of  its  progress  from  an 
obscure  Dutch  trading-post  among  barbarians,  planted  early  in  the 
seventeenth  century,  to  a  great  commercial  metropolis,  with  a  popula- 
tion of  almost  170,000,  is  ended.  Henceforth  the  story  of  that  growth, 
until  Xew  York  has  become  one  of  the  most  populous  cities  in  the 
world,  and  destined  to  become  the  metropolis  of  the  nations,  will  be 
told  in  much  greater  detail.  That  story  is  divided  into  decades  of 
y<  W8)  beginning  with  1830,  the  time  when  the  forces  back  of  the 
great  prosperity  of  the  city  had  gathered  potency  and  were  actively  at 
work. 


FIRST   DECADE,  1830-1840, 


CHAPTER  I. 


I FIRST  saw  the  city  of  New  York  in  the  year  1832.  It  was  then 
a  marvellous  sight  for  the  eyes  of  a  rustic  lad  whose  home  was  in 
a  quiet  village  on  the  Hudson  River  about  half  way  between  New  York 
and  Albany. 

The  city  limits  were  then  (as  now)  commensurate  with  the  County  of 
New  York,  and  comprehended  the  whole  of  Manhattan  Island,  which 
is  about  fourteen  miles  in  length  and  from  one  fourth  of  a  mile  to  two 
and  a  quarter  miles  in  breadth.  The  city  proper — the  more  thickly 
inhabited  portions  of  it — extended  from  the  Battery  along  the  Hudson 
River  about  a  mile  and  a  half,  and  from  the  same  point  along  the  East 
River  about  two  miles.  The  city  included  the  several  islands  in  the 
harbor  north  of  Staten  Island,  and  those  in  the  East  River. 

Along  Houston  Street  on  the  east  and  Hamersley  Street  on  the 
west,  the  inhabitants  were  essentially  suburban.  There  were  about 
two  hundred  and  fifty  streets,  alleys,  and  avenues  south  of  those  which 
are  designated  by  numerals.  Many  of  these  streets  above  Canal  Street 
were  very  thinly  populated.  The  avenues  were  then  mere  prophecies 
of  future  population  and  business.  Only  the  Third  and  Eighth  Ave- 
nues were  opened  to  the  Harlem  River  ;  the  Fourth,  Seventh,  and 
Eleventh  were  not  opened  at  all. 

Northward  of  the  inhabited  portions  of  the  city  limits  were  several 
villages  and  hamlets,  the  most  important  of  which  were  Greenwich, 
Rloomingdale,  and  Manhattan vi lie  on  the  Hudson  River  ;  Yorkville 
in  the  centre  of  the  island  ;  and  on  the  Harlem  River  was  Harlem,  the 
senior  of  them  all,  for  it  was  planted  by  Dutch  emigrants  from  New 
Amsterdam  (New  York  below  Wall  Street)  more  than  two  centuries 
ago.  They  settled  there  for  the  purpose  of  cultivating  cabbages  and 
other  "  garden  track"  for  the  villagers  at  the  southern  end  of  the 
island. 

The  human  population  of  New  York  City  in  1830  was  a  little  more 
than  two  hundred  thousand  in  number.  Over  these  citizens  .and  aliens 
presided,  as  their  chief  magistrate,  Mayor  Walter  Bowne,  a  thrifty 
hardware  merchant  in  Pearl  Street,  a  gray-haired  man  of  sixty,  and 


66 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


a  scion  of  the  Quaker  family  at  Flushing,  Long  Island,  who  entertained 
George  Fox,  the  founder  of  the  sect  of  Friends  or  Quakers,  late  in  the 
seventeenth  century. 

The  half  decade  of  years  immediately  preceding  the  year  1830  pre- 
sented in  New  York  City  a  most  exciting  drama  to  the  eye  of  the 
social  philosopher.  These  years  embraced  the  great  transition  period 
in  the  life  of  that  city.  They  were  the  closing  years  of  the  long-reign- 
ing dynasty  of  the  "  Knickerbockers,"  as  the  Dutch  element  of  the 
population  of  New  York  was  called,  and  the  successful  enthronement 
of  an  energetic  cosmopolitan  spirit,  which  speedily  transformed  the 
hitherto  quiet,  restful,  satisfied,  and  conservative  inhabitants  of  the 
staid  Dutch  town  into  a  wide-awake,  hustling,  elbowing,  and  ever-rest- 
less and  aspiring  multitude  of  men  and  women,  scramhling  for  the 
headship  of  every  class  in  the  great  school  of  human  activity.  This 
change  had  been  largely  wrought  by  the  infusion  of  a  new  social  ele- 
ment from  neighboring  communities. 

The  slumhering  city  of  New  York  had  heen  surprised  and  invaded 
by  "  Green  Mountain  Boys,"  as  aggressive  as  Allen's  hand,  and  others 
from  the  granite  hills  of  New  England,  with  some  congenial  spirits  from 
the  West.  They  were  all  panoplied  in  the  armor  of  indomitable  will 
and  abiding  faith,  with  a  determination  to  conquer  every  difficulty  in 
their  way.  and  win  fortunes  by  their  industry,  thrift,  wit,  and  skill. 
They  infused  their  own  spirit  into  the  life  of  the  conservative  dwellers 
in  the  city,  and  very  soon  society  hecame  a  vast  kaleidoscope,  present- 
ing at  every  turn  new  and  startling  aspects  in  the  wondrous  combina- 
tions produced  by  energetic  and  well-balanced  enterprise.  The  invad- 
ers with  rare  prescience  had  interpreted  the  grand  prophecies  of  the 
future  business  possibilities  of  that  island  city  seated  where  the  Hudson 
pours  its  flood  into  the  sea — that  beautiful  river  just  wedded,  as  we 
have  seen,  to  the  Great  Lakes,  with  their  magnificent  dowry  of  thou- 
sands of  square  miles  of  fertile  territory. 

This  was  the  period  of  the  awakening  to  new  and  prosperous  life  of 
the  whole  country.  Business  of  every  kind  had  been  readjusted  after 
the  great  disruption  caused  by  the  second  war  for  independence  ;  the 
national  debt  had  been  reduced  to  less  than  $60,000,000  before  1828  ; 
the  political  atmosphere  was  more  serene  than  it  had  been  since  the 
creation  of  the  Republic,  and  solid  and  permanent  prosperity  seemed  to 
be  assured. 

The  celebration  of  the  most  important  and  propitious  event  in  the 
history  of  the  city  of  New  York — the  completion  of  the  great  Erie 
Canal — deserves  more  than  a  passing  notice.    It  occurred  in  the  month 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830  1840. 


67 


of  Xovember,  1825.  The  day  fixed  for  the  celebration  in  the  city  of 
New  York  was  the  4th  day  of  that  month. 

At  ten  o'clock  on  a  balmy  morning  (the  26th  of  October)  the  waters 
of  Lake  Erie  at  Buffalo  flowed  into  the  "  Dig  Ditch"  (as  it  was  con- 
temptuously called  by  doubters  and  its  opponents)  for  the  first  time. 
The  event  was  hailed  with  loud  huzzas,  the  swinging  of  hats,  and  the 
waving  of  handkerchiefs  by  a  multitude  assembled  on  the  occasion. 

The  news  of  this  first  inflowing  was  communicated  from  Buffalo  to 
Xew  York  in  the  space  of  one  hour  and  thirty  minutes.  This  was 
done  long  before  the  electro-magnetic  telegraph  began  its  marvellous 
career.  The  creator  of  its  intelligence  was  then  a  portrait  painter  in 
the  city  of  Xew  York.  That  message  was  conveyed  on  the  wings  of 
sound  from  booming  cannon  placed  at  intervals  along  the  line  of  the 
canal  and  the  Hudson  River,  and  a  response  was  returned  by  the  same 
voices  and  in  the  same  space  of  time. 

A  flotilla  of  canal-boats,  all  beautifully  decorated,  led  by  a  large  one 
named  the  Seneca  Chief,  left  Ruffalo  on  a  journey  eastward  at  the 
moment  of  the  first  cannon  peal.  The  Chief  was  drawn  by  four  richly 
caparisoned  gray  horses.  It  bore,  as  passengers,  Governor  De  Witt 
Clinton,  Lieutenant-Governor  General  James  Tallmadge,  General 
Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  the  Albany  patroon  ;  General  Solomon  Van 
Rensselaer,  Colonel  "William  L.  Stone,*  a  delegation  from  Xew  Yolk 
Citv,  and  numerous  invited  o-uests  and  ladies. 

One  of  the  canal  boats  named  .W/,v  Ark  bore  a  bear,  two  fawns, 
two  eagles,  and  a  variety  of  birds  and  "  four-footed  beasts,*'  with  two 
Seneca  Indian  youths  in  the  costume  of  their  dusky  nation. 

Everywhere  along  the  route  from  Buffalo  to  Albany  the  people 
gathered  in  crowds  at  villages  and  hamlets,  at  all  hours  of  the  day  and 
night,  to  see  and  greet  the  novel  procession.  At  Rochester,  where  the 
canal  crossed  the  Genesee  River  by  an  aqueduct  supported  by  stone 
arches,  a  little  drama  was  performed.    A  man  in  a  small  boat  on  the 

*  William  L.  Stone  was  for  many  years  an  eminent  journalist  in  New  York  City.  He 
was  born  at  Esopus,  N.  Y.,  April  20,  1792  ;  removed  to  Cooperstown  in  1800.  where  he 
assisted  his  father  in  the  care  of  a  farm,  and  became  a  printer.  In  1813  he  entered  upon 
his  career  of  a  newspaper  editor,  and  pursued  it  in  several  places,  and  finally  became  one 
of  the  proprietors  and  editors  of  the  -Veto  York  Commercial  Advertiser  in  1838,  which  he 
conducted  until  the  time  of  his  death  at  Saratoga  Springs,  in  August,  1844.  Colonel 
Stone  was  a  genial  writer.  He  published  volumes  of  Tales  and  Essays,  Memoirs  ot  15rant 
and  Red  Jacket,  and  had  gathered  and  prepared  materials  for  a  life  of  Sir  Wdliam  John- 
son, which  was  afterward  completed  by  his  son.  He  published  other  careful  books  from 
his  own  pen.  For  several  years  Colonel  Stone  was  superintendent  of  common  schools  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  and  was  an  efficient  worker  in  the  cause  of  education. 


68 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Genesee,  stationed  ostensibly  as  a  sentinel,  called  out  to  the  Seneca 
Chief  as  the  flotilla  entered  the  aqueduct  : 
"  Who  comes  there  V 

"  Your  brothers  from  the  West,  on  the  waters  of  the  Great  Lakes," 
responded  a  voice  from  the  Chief. 

li  By  what  means  have  they  been  diverted  so  far  from  their  natural 
course  V  inquired  the  sentinel. 

"  Through  the  channel  of  the  grand  Erie  Canal,"  answered  the 
Chief. 

"  l>y  whose  authority  and  by  whom  was  a  work  of  such  magnitude 
accomplished  V'  asked  the  sentinel. 

"  By  the  authority  and  by  the  enterprise  of  the  people  of  New 
York,"  cried  many  voices  as  one  from  the  deck  of  the  Chief. 

At  Rochester  another  canal-boat,  The  Youny  Lion  of  the  West, 
joined  the  flotilla.  It  had  on  board,  among  other  products  of  the  West, 
two  living  wolves,  a  fawn,  a  fox,  four  raccoons,  and  two  eagles. 

The  flotilla  rested  over  the  Sabbath  at  Utica,  where  it  arrived  late 
on  Sunday  morning.  The  governor  and  his  company  were  escorted  to 
a  place  of  public  worship  in  the  afternoon  by  a  deputation  of  citizens, 
and  early  on  Monday  morning  the  grand  procession  moved  on  down 
the  beautiful  and  magnificent  Mohawk  Valley,  the  natural  and  the 
artificial  river  running  parallel  to  each  other  for  scores  of  miles. 

At  Albany,  the  State  capital  and  the  eastern  terminus  of  the  canal, 
the  voyagers  were  met  by  a  large  civic  and  military  procession,  which 
escorted  the  governor  and  other  projectors  and  friends  of  the  enterprise 
to  the  Capitol,  where  interesting  services  were  held.  People  had  gath- 
ered in  Albany  from  all  parts  of  eastern  and  northern  New  York,  from 
Vermont,  and  even  from  Canada,  to  witness  the  imposing  spectacle.  A 
grand  public  dinner  was  given  by  the  corporation  of  Albany,  at  which 
the  lion.  Philip  Hone,  the  mayor  of  the  city  of  New  York,  made  a 
stirring  congratulatory  speech,  and  in  behalf  of  the  corporation  of  his 
city  invited  that  of  Albany  to  accompany  the  voyagers  down  the  Hud- 
son River  and  accept  the  hospitalities  of  the  commercial  metropolis. 
The  celebration  at  Albany  ended  with  a  general  illumination  of  the 
little  city  of  fifteen  thousand  inhabitants,  and  an  appropriate  perform- 
ance at  the  theati'e,  in  which  was  exhibited  a  picturesque  and  truthful 
canal  scene,  with  many  boats  and  horses,  locks  and  other  accessories. 

From  Albany  to  New  York  the  flotilla  of  canal -boats  Avas  towed  by 
Hudson  Piver  steamers.  The  Chancellor  Livingston  was  the  "flag- 
ship" of  the  fleet,  having  in  tow  the  Seneca  Chief,  Avhose  distinguished 
passengers  were  transferred  to  her  escort,  and  were  joined  by  many 


FIRST  DEC  ADE,  1830-1840. 


69 


others.  They  moved  at  an  early  hour  in  the  morning-.  Groups  or 
crowds  of  men,  women,  and  children  w  ere  seen  on  the  shores  of  the 
Hudson  at  many  points,  and  here  and  there  the  great  aquatic  procession 
Avas  hailed  with  huzzas,  the  flinging  out  of  banners,  and  the  thunder  of 
cannon.  It  was  a  sort  of  gala  time  in  the  valley  of  the  lower  Hudson, 
that  clear,  crisp,  November  day  in  1825. 

Ample  preparations  had  been  made  in  the  city  of  New  York  for  the 
celebration  of  this  great  event.  So  early  as  September  7th  the  mer- 
chants and  citizens  of  New  York  had  held  a  great  meeting  in  the  rooms 
of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  in  the  Tontine  Coffee- 1  louse,  to  make 
arrangements  for  the  celebration.  John  Pintard  was  secretary  of  the 
meeting,  and  appropriate  resolutions  concerning  arrangements,  embody- 
ing a  programme,  were  adopted.  They  were  prepared  beforehand  by 
Pintard. 

Before  the  dawn  of  the  morning  of  November  4th  the  great  fleet, 
under  the  command  of  Charles  Rhind  as  admiral,  was  anchored  off 
Greenwich  Village,  then  a  sort  of  suburb  of  New  York  City.  The  sky 
was  cloudless,  and  at  sun-rising  the  day  was  welcomed  by  the  ringing 
of  the  city  bells  and  the  roar  of  cannon.  At  a  signal  from  the  Chan- 
cellor Lwingston  flags  were  ran  up  and  unfurled  all  over  the  city,  and 
at  the  naval  and  military  posts  in  the  vicinity. 

A  few  minutes  after  this  demonstration  the  large  and  new  steamboat 
Washington,  bearing  aloft  the  great  banner  of  the  corporation  display- 
ing the  arms  of  the  city  on  a  spotless  white  field,  proceeded  to  the 
anchored  fleet.  On  her  taif rail  was  displayed  a  beautiful  design,  made 
especially  in  honor  of  Washington  and  Lafayette.  In  the  centre  was  a 
trophy  of  various  emblems  of  war  and  peace.  This  was  surmounted  by 
a  bald  eagle.  On  the  right  side  of  the  trophy  was  the  portrait  of 
Washington,  and  on  the  left  the  portrait  of  Lafayette.  The  former 
was  crowned  with  the  civic  wreath  and  laurel,  the  latter  with  the 
laurel  only.  The  Genius  of  America  was  in  the  act  of  crowning  Wash- 
ington, and  the  incarnated  Spirit  of  Independence,  waving  a  flaming 
torch,  was  binding  the  brow  of  Lafayette.  Near  each  of  these  por- 
traits Avas  a  medallion  bearing  emblems  of  agriculture  and  commerce. 
The  whole  rested  on  a  section  of  the  globe,  and  the  background  was  a 
glory  from  the  trophy.  Each  corner  of  the  taffrail  was  filled  with  a 
cornucopia  completing  the  whole  design,  "on  which, "  wrote  Colonel 
Stone,  the  historian  of  the  celebration,  "  neither  painting  nor  gilding 
had  been  spared  to  enhance  the  effect." 

The  Washington,  with  a  committee  of  the  corporation  and  the  officers 
of  the  governor's  guard,  proceeded  to  the  fleet.    When  she  came 


70 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


within  hailing  distance  of  the  Seneca  Chief,  one  of  her  officers  inquired 
of  the  strange  craft  : 

Where  are  you  from,  and  what  is  your  destination  ?" 
The  reply  was  sent  back  : 

"  From  Lake  Erie,  and  bound  for  Sandy  Hook.1' 

The  Washington  then  ran  alongside  the  Chancellor  Livingston,  when 
the  committee  went  aboard  the  latter  and  tendered  congratulations  to 
the  governor  in  behalf  of  the  citizens  of  New  York,  represented  by  the 
corporation.  These  congratulations  were  presented  in  a  speech  by 
Alderman  Cowdry.  lie  finally  welcomed  the  governor  and  his  fellow- 
travellers,  who  had  come  all  the  way  by  water  from  Lake  Erie  through 
the  heart  of  the  State  of  New  York.  They  were  the  pioneers  in  that 
new  aqueous  highway  of  commerce. 

At  an  early  hour  the  waters  at  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson  and  of  New 
York  Harbor  were  dotted  with  floating  craft  of  every  kind,  from  the 
stately  British  sloop-of-war  to  the  pirogue  and  skiff,  all  alive  with 
human  beings.  The  fine  packet-ship  Samlet,  prepared  by  the  Marine 
and  Nautical  Societies,  and  dressed  in  the  flags  of  various  nations  and 
private  signals,  appeared  in  the  Hudson  River  at  sunrise.  Commodore 
Chaunoey  sent  an  officer  and  twenty  men  from  the  Navy-Yard  at 
Brooklyn  to  assist  Captain  Collins  in  the  duties  of  the  ship  during  the 
day.    The  two  societies  went  on  board  of  her  soon  after  eight  o'clock. 

At  about  nine  o'clock  the  corporations  and  invited  guests  proceeded 
to  the  steamboats  Washington,  Fulton,  and  Providence,  lying  at  the 
foot  of  Wall  Street.  There  was  also  the  steamboat  C&mmeroe,  with  the 
elegant  safety -barges  Lmhj  Clinton  and  Lady  Van  Ilcnssi'laer.  These 
barges  had  been  prepared  by  the  corporation  for  the  use  of  invited 
ladies  and  their  attendants.  The  Lady  Clinton  was  profusely  decorated 
with  evergreens  hung  in  festoons,  interwoven  with  roses  and  other 
flowers.  In  a  niche  below  the  upper  deck  was  a  bust  of  Governor 
Clinton,  with  a  wreath  of  laurel  and  roses  encircling  the  brow.  On 
this  barge  were  the  wife  of  the  governor  and  a  crowd  of  distinguished 
ladies  in  their  best  attire. 

The  fleet  from  Albany  in  the  Hudson  River,  led  by  the  Chancellor 
Livingston,  went  around  to  the  East  River  to  the  Navy- Yard,  where  a 
salute  Avas  fired.  The  flagship  here  took  on  board  the  officers  of  the 
station  with  their  fine  band  of  music,  and  were  greeted  by  the  officers 
from  AVest  Point,  who  had  been  received  on  the  Livingston  the  previous 
evening.  They  also  were  accompanied  by  their  celebrated  band.  At 
this  time  the  wharves  and  buildings  and  the  heights  of  Brooklyn  and 
the  shores  of  New  York  from  Corlear's  Hook  to  the  Battery  were 


FIRST  DECADE,  183(MS40. 


71 


densely  crowded  with  eager  spectators.  It  was  an  outpouring  of  the 
population  such  as  had  never  been  seen  on  the  shores  of  the  East 
River. 

The  fleet  proceeded  to  the  waters  between  the  Battery  and  Governor's 
Island,  where  it  was  joined  by  the  gay ly -decorated  Hamlet,  m  tow  by 
the  Oliver  Ellsworth  and  Bali  car.  Other  steamboats  towed  pilot  ves- 
sels and  a  small  flotilla  belonging  to  Whitehall  boatmen.  At  that  point 
the  admiral  of  the  fleet  for  the  occasion  (Mr.  Rhind)  signalled  the 
different  vessels  to  take  their  appointed  stations.  This  was  a  most  in- 
teresting spectacle,  and  these  movements  were  continually  applauded 
by  loud  huzzas  from  the  crowded  vessels  of  every  kind. 

In  New  York  Harbor  were  two  British  sloops-of-war.  Swallow  and 
Kingfisher.  When  everything  was  in  readiness,  the  fleet,  saluted  by 
the  guns  at  the  Battery  and  of  the  castle  on  Governor's  Island,  made 
a  sweep  toward  Jersey  City  around  these  vessels.  The  latter  saluted 
them  with  their  heavy  guns  and  cheers  and  the  tune  of  "  Yankee 
Doodle."  In  response  to  this  compliment  the  bands  on  the  Chancellor 
Livingston  played  "  God  save  the  King."  Then  the  whole  procession, 
led  by  the  Livingston,  composed  of  twenty-nine  steam -vessels,  and  sail- 
ing ships,  schooners,  barges,  canal-boats  and  sail-boats,  moved  toward 
Sandy  Hook,  within  which  the  United  States  schooner  Dolphin  was 
moored.  As  the  grand  procession  emerged  from  the  Narrows  after 
receiving  a  salute  from  Forts  Lafayette  and  Tompkins,  it  was  ap- 
proached by  the  Dolphin,  as  a  deputation  from  Neptune,  to  inquire 
who  the  visitors  were,  and  what  was  the  object  of  their  coming.  A 
satisfactory  answer  having  been  given,  the  whole  fleet  formed  a  circle 
around  the  schooner,  about  three  miles  in  circumference,  preparatory  to 
the  crowning  and  most  important  ceremony  of  the  occasion,  namely, 
the  commingling  of  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie  with  those  of  the  Atlantic 
Ocean. 

The  Seneca  Chief  had  borne  from  Buffalo  two  handsome  kegs, 
painted  green,  with  gilded  hoops,  and  having  the  device  of  a  spread 
eagle  carrying  in  its  beak  a  ribbon  on  which  were  the  words  "  Water 
of  Lake  Erie."  One  of  these  kegs  was  taken  to  the  Chancellor  Liv- 
ingston and  received  by  the  governor,  when  Admiral  Rhind  addressed 
his  excellency,  saying  he  had  a  request  to  make.  He  was  desirous,  he 
said,  "  of  preserving  a  j>ortion  of  the  water  used  on  that  memorable 
occasion,  in  order  to  send  it  to  our  distinguished  friend  and  late  illus- 
trious visitor,  Major-General  Lafayette,"  to  be  conveyed  to  him  in 
bottles  in  a  box  made  from  a  log  of  cedar  brought  from  Lake  Erie  in 
the  Seneca  Chief.    The  governor  thanked  Mr.  Rhind  for  his  suggestion, 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


and  said  that  a  more  pleasing  task  could  not  have  been  imposed  upon 
him. 

There  was  now  silence  and  eager  watching  among  the  vast  multitude 
floating  on  the  unruffled  bosom  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  near  Sandy 
Hook.  It  was  the  supreme  moment  of  the  occasion.  Governor  Clin- 
ton, lifting  the  keg  of  Erie  water  in  full  view  of  the  spectators,  stepped 
to  the  side  of  the  Chancellor  Liclnyxton  and  poured  its  contents  into 
the  sea,  saying  :  •  / 

"  This  solemnity,  at  this  place,  on  the  first  arrival  of  vessels  from 
hake  Erie,  is  intended  to  indicate  and  commemorate  the  navigable 
communication  which  has  been  accomplished  between  our  Mediter- 
ranean seas  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean  in  about  eight  years  to  the  extent 
of  more  than  lour  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles,  by  the  wisdom,  pub- 
lie  spirit,  and  energy  of  the  people  of  the  State  of  New  York  ;  and  may 
the  God  of  the  heavens  and  the  earth  smile  most  propitiously  on  this 
work,  and  render  it  subservient  to  the  best  interests  of  the  human 
race. ' '  * 

The  eminent  Dr.  Samuel  L.  Mitchill,  of  Xew  York,  who  possessed 
water  from  many  countries,  concluded  the  ceremonies  on  the  sea  by 
pouring  into  its  bosom  small  vials  of  water  from  the  Ganges,  Indus,  and 
.Jordan  in  Asia  ;  the  Nile  and  the  Gambia  in  Africa  ;  the  Thames,  the 
Seine,  the  Rhine,  and  the  Danube  in  Europe  ;  the  Mississippi  and 
Columbia  of  North  America  ;  and  the  Orinoco,  La  Plata,  and  Ama- 
zon of  South  America.    Dr.  Mitchill  then  delivered  a  long  address. 

"While  the  Beet  was  here  at  anchor."  says  Colonel  Stone  in  his 
narrative  of  the  celebration,  "  a  deputation  from  the  members  of  the 
Assembly  from  different  parts  of  the  State,  who  were  on  board  one  of 
the  steamboats  as  guests  of  1 1  if  corporation,  preceded  by  Clarkson 
Crolius,  Esq.,f  then  Speaker,  paid  a  visit  to  the  Seneca  Chiefs  to  recip- 

*  The  keg  from  which  water  from  Lako  Erie  was  poured  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean  is 
preserved,  as  a  precious  memento  of  the  great  event,  among  the  collections  of  the  New 
York  Historical  Society. 

f  Clarkson  Crolius,  Sr.,  was  born  in  the  city  of  Xew  York  just  previous  to  the 
breaking  out  of  the  war  for  independence— October  5,  1773.  His  ancestors  came  from 
Germany  and  settled  at  New  York  at  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century.  They  settled 
in  the  ward  (the  Sixth)  in  which  he  was  born,  which  he  represented  in  the  municipal 
legislature,  and  in  which  he  died.  His  grandfather  established  the  first  stoneware  man- 
ufactory in  the  colonies,  and  that  business  was  pursued  by  his  descendants  for  several  I 
generations.  His  father  was  an  ardent  Whig,  and  when  the  British  took  possession  of 
the  city,  in  the  fall  of  1776,  he  left  the  city.  His  property  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  in- 
vaders, and  was  not  recovered  by  the  family  until  the  evacuation  of  the  city  by  the  Brit- 
ish troops  late  in  1783.  His  brother  John  was  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution, 
and  lived  to  the  age  of  more  than  80  years,  dying  about  the  year  1835. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


73 


rocate  congratulations  with  the  Buffalo  Committee  on  the  Completion 
of  the  Grand  Canal,  to  which  the  Legislature,  of  which  they  were 
members,  had  made  the  last  and  finishing  appropriation. ' ' 

The  great  fleet,  after  several  vessels  bad  fired  a  salute,  returned  to 
the  city  in  triumphal  procession,  the  passengers  of  the  steamboats- par- 
taking of  a  collation  on  the  way.    Again  the  grand  flotilla  swept 

Mr.  Crolius  pursued  the  business  of  his  father,  the  manufacturing  of  pottery,  find 
being  of  an  active  temperament  and  possessed  of  positive  convictions,  entered  the  arena 
of  political  strife  soon  after  attaining  to  his  majority.  He  espoused  the  cause  of  the 
Democratic  (or  Republican,  as  it  was  called)  party,  founded  by  Jefferson,  and  was  active 
in  the  canvass  which  raised  that  great  Virginian  to  the  Presidency  of  the  Republic  in 
1801.    He  was  also  an  active  member  of  the  Tammany  Society. 

At  about  the  opening  of  the  present  centiu-y  Mr.  Crolius  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
common  council,  representing  the  Sixth  Ward,  in  which  he  was  born.  As  such  he  offici- 
ated at  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  the  new  City  Hall,  in  the  Fields,  afterward 
known  as  City  Hall  Park,  or  the  Park.  In  1842  he  was  the  last  surviving  member  of  the 
common  council  who  were  present  on  that  occasion.  The  city  was  then  divided  into 
nine  wards.  De  Witt  Clinton  was  mayor,  and  John  B.  Prevost  was  recorder.  The  fol- 
lowing are  the  names  of  the  aldermen  and  assistant  aldermen  then  present  : 

Aldermen. — Wynandt  Van  Zandt,  Philip  Brasher,  John  Bogert,  John  P.  Ritter,  Jacob 
de  la  Montagnie,  George  Janeway,  Mangle  Minthorne,  Jacob  Martin,  Jacob  Hansen. 
Assistants.— Andrew  Morris,  Caleb  S.  Riggs,  Jacob  Le  Roy,  Robert  Bogardus,  Clarkson 
Crolius,  John  Beekman,  Whitehead  Fish,  James  Striker. 

Mr.  Crolius  remained  in  the  council  several  years.  He  was  the  grand  sachem  or  saga- 
more of  the  Tammany  Society  in  1811,  and  as  such  laid  the  corner-stone  of  Tammany 
Hall  ;  and  early  in  the  war  of  1812  he  was  major  of  the"  Adjutant-General's  Regiment.'' 
He  soon  afterward  was  appointed  to  the  same  rank  in  the  regular  service,  and  assigned 
to  duty  on  Governor's  Island,  in  the  harbor  of  Xew  York.  During  the  absence  of  his 
superior  officer  he  held  command  of  that  post,  also  of  Bath  and  Sandy  Hook.  At  the  close 
of  the  war  he  resumed  his  business.  He  was  a  very  popular  leader  in  the  Democratic 
party,  and  for  ten  years  was  a  representative  of  the  city  of  New  York  in  the  Assembly  of 
the  State.  Mr.  Crolius  was,  with  many  other  members  of  the  Legislature,  opposed  to  the 
Canal  scheme,  chiefly  under  a  conviction  that  the  State  was  not  then  in  a  condition  to 
sustain  the  expense  or  to  assume  the  inevitable  heavy  debt  its  construction  woidd  create. 
When  it  was  begun  he  was  among  the  first  to  join  in  voting  means  for  its  completion. 

Being  a  favorite  with  the  country  members  of  the  Assembl}',  he  was  chosen  Speaker  of 
that  body  in  1825,  by  a  unanimous  vote,  an  unprecedented  circumstance.  He  soon  after- 
ward retired  from  active  political  life,  but  official  stations  under  the  city  authorities  and 
the  general  government  were  conferred  \ipon  him.  He  was  one  of  the  most  active  of  the 
founders  of  the  American  Institute,  and  was  one  of  its  vice-presidents  for  seven  years. 
He  died  in  the  city  of  New  York  in  the  ward  in  which  he  was  born,  on  October  3,  1843. 
He  married,  in  1793,  Elizabeth  Meyer,  who  survived  him  many  years. 

As  an  honorable  and  energetic  business  man,  a  promoter  of  the  best  interests  of  his 
native  city,  as  a  patriotic  soldier,  and  as  a  faithful  representative  of  his  fellow-citizens 
in  the  city  and  State  legislatures,  Clarkson  Crolius,  Sr.,  was  an  eminently  representative 
citizen.  His  son,  Clarkson  Crolius,  Jr.,  now  living  in  the  city,  venerable  in  years,  has 
also  been  an  alderman  in  New  York,  a  member  of  the  State  Senate,  and  ever  active  in 
the  promotion  of  measures  for  the  benefit  of  his  fellow-men. 


74: 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


around  the  British  war- vessels,  receiving  a  salute  from  them.  Each 
party  complimented  the  other  with  cheers  and  the  playing  of  "  God 
save  the  King"  and  "Yankee  Doodle"  by  their  respective  musicians. 
The  passengers  were  all  landed  at  about  four  o'clock. 

Meanwhile  a  vast  civic  procession,  such  as  had  never  before  been  seen 
in  the  city  of  New  York,  had  been  formed  and  paraded  through  the 
principal  streets,  under  the  direction  of  the  marshal  of  the  day,  Major- 
General  Flemming.  It  Avas  composed  of  representatives  of  every  re- 
spectable class  of  society,  arranged  in  organized  groups.  There  ap- 
peared the  several  benevolent  and  industrial  societies,  the  Volunteer 
Fire  Department,  the  literary  and  scientific  institutions,  the  members 
of  the  bar,  the  officers  of  the  State  artillery  and  infantry  in  uniform, 
and  the  members  of  many  occupations  and  callings  not  formally 
organized  into  societies,  accompanied  by  bands  of  music. 

This  procession,  six  abreast,  was  formed  in  Greenwich  between  nine 
and  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  right  resting  on  Marketfield  Street, 
near  the  Battery.  It  moved  up  Greenwich  Street  (then  a  fashionable 
place  of  residence)  to  Canal  Street  ;  through  Canal  Street  to  Broad- 
way ;  up  Broadway  to  Broome  Street  (then  the  upper  part  of  the  city 
proper)  ;  up  Broome  Street  to  the  Bowery  ;  down  the  Bowery  to 
Pearl  Street  ;  down  Pearl  Street  to  the  Battery  ;  over  the  Battery 
to  Broadway  ;  and  thence  to  the  new  City  Hall,  in  the  Park. 
At  the  Battery  the  procession  was  joined  by  the  voyagers  returning 
from  the  ocean — the  mayor  and  common  council  and  distinguished 
guests. 

The  scene  along  the  line  of  the  procession  presented  a  most  imposing 
spectacle.  Each  society  seemed  emulous  to  excel  in  the  richness  and 
beauty  of  its  banner  and  the  respective  badges  and  decorations.  Many 
of  the  banners  displayed  exquisite  art  in  design  and  execution.  Many 
of  the  industrial  societies  (twenty-two  in  number)  had  furnished  them- 
selves with  large  cars,  upon  which  their  respective  artisans  were  busily 
engaged  in  their  several  occupations. 

The  most  attractive  performance  of  the  kind  was  on  the  printers' 
car,  on  which  was  a  printing-press  constantly  at  work  striking  off 
copies  of  a  long  "Ode  for  the  Canal  Celebration,"  written  for  the 
occasion  at  the  request  of  the  printers  of  New  York,  and  distributed  to 
the  populace.    The  following  are  the  opening  stanzas  : 

"  'Tis  done  !  'tis  done  !    The  mighty  chain 
Which  joins  bright  Erie  to  the  Main, 
For  ages  shall  perpetuate 
The  glory  of  our  native  State. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


73 


"  'Tis  done  !    Frond  Art  o'er  Nature  has  prevailed  ! 
Gentus  and  Perseverance  have  succeeded  ! 
Though  selfish  Prejudice  in  strength  assailed, 
While  honest  Frudence  pleaded. 

"  'Tis  done  !    The  monarch  of  the  briny  tide, 
Whose  giant  arms  encircle  Earth, 
To  virgin  Erie  is  allied, 

A  bright-eyed  nymph  of  mountain  birth. 

"  To-day  the  Sire  of  Ocean  takes 
A  sylvan  maiden  to  his  arms, 
The  Goddess  of  the  crystal  Lakes, 
In  all  her  native  charms  ! 

"  She  comes,  attended  by  a  sparkling  train  ; 
The  Naiads  of  the  West  her  nuptials  grace  ; 
She  meets  the  sceptred  Father  of  the  Main, 

And  in  his  heaving  bosom  hides  her  virgin  face." 

Some  of  the  cars  were  beautifully  ornamented  and  profusely  deco- 
rated with  evergreens.  Turkey  or  Brussels  carpets  covered  the  floors 
of  some  of  them,  and  some  fairly  glittered  with  gilding  in  the  light  of 
the  unclouded  sun  on  that  fair  November  day. 

In  that  procession  was  appropriately  carried  a  bust  of  Christopher 
Oolles,*  an  Englishman  who  came  to  New  York  before  the  Revolu- 
tion, and  was  undoubtedly  the  first  man  who  suggested  the  possibility 
and  the  advantage  of  an  artificial  water-communication  between  the 
Hudson  River  and  the  Lakes.  lie  lectured  on  canal  navigation  in  New 
York  so  early  as  1772.  He  actually  made  a  survey  of  the  Mohawk 
River  and  the  country  to  Wood  Creek,  that  empties  into  Lake  Ontario, 
lie  had  been  in  his  grave  four  veal's  when  this  grand  canal  celebration 
occurred. 

The  gallant  Colonel  Stone,  the  appointed  historian  of  the  event,  was 
so  deeply  impressed  with  the  whole  affair  that  his  pen,  with  seeming 

*  Christopher  Colles  was  born  in  Ireland  about  1738  ;  studied  under  Richard  Pococke, 
an  eminent  Oriental  traveller,  and  became  an  expert  linguist  and  man  of  science.  On 
the  death  of  his  patron,  in  17G5,  he  came  to  America,  and  first  appeared  in  public  here  as 
a  lecturer  on  canal  navigation  about  the  year  1772.  He  was  a  good  civil  engineer,  and 
proposed  to  the  authorities  of  the  city  of  New  York  schemes  for  supplying  the  city  with 
pure  water.  But  his  projects  were  never  carried  out.  Colles  constructed  and  published 
a  series  of  sectional  road  maps,  which  were  engraved  by  his  daughter.  He  was  a  land 
surveyor,  made  paper  boxes,  and  assisted  almanac-makers  in  their  calculations.  Colles 
also  manufactured  painters'  colors,  and  at  length  was  made  actuary  of  the  Academy  of  the 
Fine  Arts.  Eminent  men  in  New  York  City  highly  esteemed  him,  but  he  died  in  com- 
parative obscurity  in  New  Y'ork  in  1821.  Only  Dr.  J.  W.  Francis  and  John  Pintard,  with 
the  officiating  clergyman.  Rev.  Dr.  Creighton,  accompanied  his  body  to  its  burial  in  the 
little  cemetery  on  Hudson  Street. 


76 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


spontaneity,  recorded  almost  grandiloquent  expressions  when  dwelling 
on  the  subject  of  the  participation  of  the  fairer  sex  in  the  unrivalled 
pageant.    lie  wrote  : 

"  The  eve  of  beauty,  too,  gazed  with  delight  upon  the  passing- 
scene  ;  for  every  window  was  thronged,  and  the  myriads  of  handker- 
chiefs which  fluttered  in  the  air  were  only  rivalled  in  whiteness  by  the 
delicate  hands  which  suspended  them  ;  while  the  glowing  cheeks,  the 
ingenuous  smiles  of  loveliness  and  innocence,  and  the  intelligence  which 
beamed  brightly  from  many  a  sparkling  eye,  proclaimed  their  posses- 
sors worth}' of  being  the  wives,  mothers,  and  daughters  of  freemen.  It 
was,  in  fine,  a  proud  spectacle  ;  but  language  fails  in  attempting  its 
description — much  more  in  imparting  to  paper  the  sensations  which  it 
created.  It  is  not  difficult  to  describe  individual  objects  correctly,  but 
it  is  impossible  to  portray  their  general  effect  when  happily  grouped 
together.  It  is  amid  scenes  like  these — a  fain:  gleam  of  which  can 
only  be  conveyed  to  the  future  antiquary  or  historian — that  the  mind  is 
absorbed  in  its  own  reflections,  musing  in  solitude,  though  surrounded 
by  the  gay  and  the  thoughtless,  and  literally  lost  in  its  own  imagin- 
ings." '  * 

The  festivities  of  the  day  were  closed  in  the  evening  by  the  illumina- 
tion of  the  public  buildings,  the  principal  hotels,  the  theatres,  museums, 
and  many  private  dwellings.  On  several  of  these  were  transparencies 
with  appropriate  devices,  conceived  by  good  taste  and  intelligence,  and 
artistically  executed.  The  City  Hall  was  the  chief  point  of  attraction. 
No  expense  had  been  spared  by  the  corporation  in  making  its  illumina- 
tion and  attendant  fireworks  unsurpassed  in  brilliancy.  There  was  an 
immense  transparency  on  its  front,  exhibiting  views  of  the  canal  and  a 
variety  of  emblematical  figures.  The  fireworks  exceeded  the  public 
expectations.  The  Park  was  crowded  with  delighted  spectators,  of 
both  sexes  and  of  all  ages,  from  the  crowing  infant  to  the  tottering  old 
man,  from  eight  to  ten  thousand  being  the  computed  number.  At  the 
Park  Theatre  an  interlude  composed  for  the  occasion  by  M.  M.  Noah 
was  performed,  and  elicited  great  applause.  A  similar  production  pre- 
pared by  Samuel  "Wood  worth,  the  printer-poet,  for  the  occasion  was 
performed  at  the  Chatham  Theatre. 

On  the  following  day  (Saturday,  the  5th)  committees  from  the  West 
were  entertained  at  a  dinner  given  in  their  honor  on  board  the  Ghtm- 

*  Colonel  William  L.  Stone's  narrative  of  the  celebration,  published  by  the  common 
council  o£  the  city  of  New  York,  under  the  title  of  "  The  Grand  Erie  Canal  Celebration." 
This  was  accompanied  by  a  memoir  of  the  great  public  work,  by  Cadwallader  D.  Golden. 
Stone's  narrative  has  furnished  the  materials  for  our  sketch. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


77 


ceUor  Livingston.  They  enjoyed  the  liospitalities  of  the  citizens  in 
great  plenitude.  The  public  institutions  were  thrown  open  to  their 
visits  and  inspection,  and  they  returned  to  their  respective  homes 
deeply  impressed  with  the  vast  importance  of  the  Grand  Canal  in  the 
promotion  of  the  prosperity,  not  only  of  the  city  of  New  York,  but  to 
the  whole  State  and  the  region  drained  by  the  Great  Lakes.  One  of 
them  (Dr.  Alexander  Coventry,  of  Utica)  wrote  to  the  mayor  of  New 
York  in  behalf  of  the  several  committees,  saying  : 

"  The  Erie  Canal  insures  to  us  a  reward  for  industry  ;  to  our  posterity 
an  antidote  for  idleness  ;  nor  is  it  the  least  valuable  of  our  acquired 
privileges  to  have  in  the  future  our  prosperity  closely  identified  with 
the  city,  our  connection  with  which  has  always  been  our  proudest 
boast/' 

The  festivities  in  the  city  were  concluded  on  Monday  evening,  the 
7th,  by  a  grand  ball  given  by  the  officers  of  the  militia  associated  with 
a  committee  of  citizens.  For  that  occasion  the  vast  rooms  of  the 
Lafayette  Amphitheatre,  in  Laurens  Street  near  Canal  Street,  was  used. 
The  hippodrome  was  floored  over  for  the  occasion,  and  with  the  stage 
used  for  dramatic  entertainments  formed  the  largest  ball-room  in  the 
United  States.  It  was  divided  into  three  compartments,  the  whole 
being  about  two  hundred  feet  in  length,  and  from  sixty  to  one  hundred 
feet  in  breadth.  The  dancing-room  was  the  most  spacious  of  any.  At 
one  end  was  an  immense  mirror,  composed  of  thirty  pier-glasses  without 
frames  and  neatly  joined  together.  At  the  other  end  of  the  room,  on 
the  removal  of  drapery  at  a  proper  time,  a  beautifully  supplied  supper- 
room  was  revealed.  From  the  roof  was  suspended  many  chandeliers, 
and  from  it  the  "  Stars  and  Stripes"  hung  in  gay  festoons.  The  whole 
of  the  interior  of  the  Amphitheatre  was  brilliantly  lighted  with  scores 
of  chandeliers,  lamps,  and  candles,  and  on  every  side  were  seen  elegant 
and  costly  decorations.  The  front  of  the  building  was  illuminated,  and 
acrossit,  over  the  doors,  were  the  words,  "  The  Grand  Canal,"  formed 
by  the  light  of  burning  lamps. 

A  brilliant  assemblage  appeared  in  the  Amphitheatre  that  night.  It 
was  estimated  that  fully  three  thousand  persons  were  present,  among 
them  Governor  Clinton  and  his  wife.  The  gallant  chronicler  (Colonel 
Stone)  again  grew  warm  as  he  described  the  scenes  on  that  eventful 
evening,  and  referred  to  the  ladies.    lie  wrote  : 

"  But  entrancing  above  all  other  enchantments  of  the  scene  was  the 
living  enchantment  of  beauty- — the  trance  which  wraps  the  senses  in 
the  presence  of  loveliness  when  woman  walks  the  hall  of  beauty — 
magnificence  herself — the  brightest  object  in  the  midst  of  brightness  and 


78 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


beauty.  A  thousand  faces  were  there,  bright  with  intelligence  and 
radiant  with  beauty,  looking  joy  and  congratulation  to  each  other,  and 
spreading  around  the  spells  which  the  loves  and  the  graces  bind  on  the 
breast  of  the  sterner  sex. ' ' 

To  every  guest  of  the  corporation  of  the  city  of  New  York,  both 
ladies  and  gentlemen,  a  beautiful  medal  was  presented,  bearing  on  one 
side  images  of  Fan  and  Neptune  in  loving  embrace,  also  a  well-filled 
cornucopia  showing  the  production  of  the  land  and  sea,  with  the  words, 
'•  Union  ok  Erie  with  the  Atlantic  ;"  and  on  the  other  side  the  arms 
of  the  State  of  New  York — the  State  which  had  borne  the  whole  burden 
in  the  construction  of  the  great  work — and  a  representation  of  a  section 
of  the  canal,  its  locks  and  aqueducts,  and  a  view  of  the  harbor  of  New 
York.  On  this  side  were  the  words,  "  Erie  Canal,  commenced  4tii  of 
•Ii  lv,  1817  ;  completed  2(5tii  October,  1825.  Presented  by  the  City 
of  New  York." 

These  medals  were  made  of  white  metal.  Some  were  of  silver. 
There  were  also  fifty-one  gold  medals  struck  and  sent  to  European 
monarchs  and  other  distinguished  men.  They  were  presented  by  a 
committee  composed  of  Recorder  Richard  Biker,  John  Agnew, 
Thomas  Bolton,  and  William  A.  Davis. 

So  ended  the  celebration  of  the  completion  and  opening  of  the  Grand 
Erie  ("anal.  It  was  the  beginning  of  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  of 
Joel  Barlow  in  his  "  Vision  of  Columbus,"  published  in  1787,  in  which, 
alluding  to  the  great  discoverer,  he  wrote  : 

"  He  saw,  as  widely  spreads  th'  inchannelled  plain, 
Where  inland  realm  for  ages  bloomed  in  vain, 
Canals,  long  winding,  ope  a  watery  flight, 
And  distant  streams  and  seas  and  lakes  unite. 

"  From  fair  Albania,  toward  the  setting  sun, 

Back,  through  the  midland,  length 'ning  channels  run  ; 
Meet  the  fair  lakes,  there  beauteous  town:;  that  lave, 
And  Hudson  s  joined  to  fair  Ohio's  wave." 

It  was  also  the  dawning  of  a  brighter  day  in  the  history  of  New 
York — its  entrance  upon  its  marvellous  career  of  growth  and  pros- 
perity. The  prophecies  of  the  earnest  friends  of  the  canal,  that  the  im- 
petus it  would  give  to  business  of  every  description  in  the  city  and  in 
the  interior  of  the  State  would  speedily  produce  a  wonderful  increase  in 
the  commerce  and  wealth  of  both  sections,  was  speedily  fulfilled,  and  in 
a  measure  beyond  the  expectation  of  the  most  sanguine  dreamer. 

In  is  12,  when  the  project  had  but  lately  assumed  a  really  tangible 
shape  by  the  appointment  of  canal  commissioners,  these  men  (Gov- 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


79 


erneur  Morris,  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  De  "Witt  Clinton,  Peter  B. 
Porter,  and  others)  gave  the  following  prophetic  utterance  : 

"  Viewing  the  extent  and  fertility  of  the  country  with  which  this 
canal  is  to  open  communication,  it  is  not  extravagant  to  suppose  that, 
when  settled,  its  produce  will  equal  the  present  export  of  the  United 
States  [$58,000,000],  Will  it  appear  improbable  that  twenty  years 
hence  [1832]  the  canal  should  annually  bring  down  250,000  tons  V 

Twenty  years  after  the  completion  of  the  canal  (1845)  there  came 
upon  it  to  tidewater  1,107,000  tons  of  produce,  valued  at  $45,000,000, 
and  the  tolls  amounted  to  $2,500,000.  In  IS 72,  the  year  before  the 
great  panic  depressed  business,  the  value  of  property  transported  on 
that  canal,  notwithstanding  a  three-track  railway  is  laid  parallel  with 
it,  was  about  $108,000,000.* 

In  the  same  year  when  the  Erie  Canal  was  completed,  and  not  more 
than  a  fortnight  before  the  great  celebration  of  the  event  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  the  first  ripple  of  the  tide  of  emigration  from  Scandinavia 
appeared.    It  consisted  of  a  band  of  Norwegians,  53  in  number,  who 

*  At  the  time  of  the  completion  of  the  Erie  Canal,  De  Witt  Clinton  was  fifty-six  years 
of  age,  having  been  born  in  March,  17G9,  at  Little  Britain,  Orange  County,  N.  Y.,  and 
died  at  Albany  February  11,  1828.  He  was  a  son  of  General  James  Clinton,  and  nephew 
of  the  eminent  first  governor  of  the  State  of  New  York,  George  Clinton. 

He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1788,  but  never  practised  much.  For  several  years  he 
was  the  private  secretary  of  Governor  Clinton,  and  the  champion  of  his  administration 
through  the  public  press,  being  a  chaste,  vigorous,  and  prolific  writer,  and  a  sound  states- 
man in  early  life.  For  several  years  he  was  the  leader  of  the  Republican  or  Democratic 
party  in  the  State  of  New  York.  Mr.  Clinton  was  a  member  of  the  State  Assembly  in 
1797,  of  the  State  Senate  1798-1802,  of  the  United  States  Senate  1802-03,  and  mayor 
of  the  city  of  New  York  1803-07,  1809-10,  1811-14.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the  State 
Senate  1805-11,  lieutenant-governor  of  New  York  1811-13,  and  being  opposed  to  the 
war  of  1812-15,  was  the  peace  candidate  for  the  Presidency  in  1812.  He  was  governor  of 
the  State  of  New  York  1817-22  and  1824-27. 

By  his  wisdom,  sagacity,  and  public  spirit,  De  Witt  Clinton  did  more  than  any  other 
citizen  to  promote  the  growth,  prosperity,  and  good  name  of  the  city  and  State  of  New 
York.  He  was  active  and  efficient  in  every  good  work,  whether  municipal,  benevolent, 
literary,  philosophical  and  scientific,  moral  and  educational.  He  was  one  of  the  found- 
ers of  the  American  Academy  of  Fine  Arts,  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  of  the 
public-school  system  of  New  York  State  and  city,  and  was  one  of  the  powerful  supporters 
of  the  canal  policy  of  the  State  from  its  inception.  He  did  more  than  any  other  man, 
privately  and  officially,  in  the  face  of  fierce  opposition  and  implacable  ridicule,  to  push 
forward  to  completion  the  great  Erie  Canal,  which  gave  a  new  birth,  as  it  were,  to  the 
commercial  metropolis  of  the  nation.  And  yet,  while  the  public  parks  and  squares  of 
New  York  are  displaying  statues  of  distinguished  Americans  and  Europeans,  no  person 
has  yet  (midsummer  of  1883)  proposed  the  erection  in  the  Central  Park,  or  elsewhere, 
of  a  statue  of  De  Witt  Clinton,  the  brilliant  statesman,  the  profound  scholar,  and  the 
munificent  benefactor  of  the  commercial  metropolis  of  the  nation  ! 


80 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


came  in  a  vessel  of  their  own.  She  was  a  small  craft.  They  landed  in 
New  York,  and  sold  their  vessel  for  $700.  Like  Cortez,  who  when  he 
landed  with  his  followers  in  Mexico  burned  the  ships  that  brought 
them  thither,  they  came  to  stay. 

This  was  the  first  Scandinavian  emigration  to  our  shores,  save  the 
Swedes  who  came  in  the  seventeenth  century,  and  there  was  none  other 
until  1836.  In  the  latter  year  Bjurn  Andersen,  father  of  the  Nor- 
wegian scholar  R.  B.  Andersen,  who  was  a  Quaker,  came  to  New  York 
with  two  shiploads  of  coreligionists,  who  fled  from  mild  persecutions 
in  Norway.  They  proceeded  to  the  Western  States.  This  was  the 
beffinnino;  of  the  ever-increasing  stream  of  emigration  from  Scandinavia 
to  Western  and  North-Western  States  and  Territories  of  the  Republic — 
Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Illinois,  Iowa,  Minnesota,  and  Dakota — where 
they  now  number  more  than  1,500,000  persons. 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE  new  social  elements  which  had  been  gradually  infused  into  the 
life  of  the  city  of  New  York  for  many  years  previous  to  the  com- 
pletion of  the  Erie  Canal  were  much  more  conspicuously  displayed 
immediately  after  that  event,  in  an  energetic  and  daring  spirit  of  busi- 
ness enterprise. 

That  spirit  had  for  its  solid  basis  and  wise  regulation  and  restraint 
the  conservative  elements  of  the  old  order  of  things — the  Knickerbocker 
Age,  as  it  has  been  called — the  time  when  the  Hutch  spirit  of  broad 
charity,  thrift,  economy,  liberal  benevolence,  and  steadiness  in  all 
things  prevailed.  That  life  Avas  characterized  by  the  practise  of  the 
sterner  virtues  :  equable  lives,  common-sense,  indomitable  persever- 
ance in  every  undertaking,  whether  for  personal  benefit  or  for  the 
public  welfare  ;  contented  industry,  the  establishment  of  institutions 
of  religion,  benevolence,  science,  art,  and  literature  ;  in  solid  intel- 
lectual cultivation,  and  in  quiet  dignity,  courtliness,  and  refinement  of 
manners  on  all  occasions. 

"Knickerbocker  frugality,"  says  a  late  writer,  "was  a  blessing  to 
such  of  the  present  generation  who  can  trace  their  genealogy  on  Man- 
hattan Island  for  a  century,  while  those  whose  titles  date  back  only 
fifty  or  sixty  years  possess  millions  of  substantial  reasons  to  be  thank- 
ful. They  have  not  toiled,  neither  have  they  spun  ;  yet  while  they 
have  slumbered  in  idle  comfort  their  inherited  acres  have  changed  to 
city  lots,  and  city  lots,  no  matter  how  situated,  represent  dollars  and 
produce  income."  * 

The  Knickerbocker's  Sabbath  symbolized  in  a  degree  the  conspicuous 
characteristics  of  Knickerbocker  life  :  steady,  conservative,  dispassion- 
ate, orderly,  and  devotional. 

The  Knickerbockers  regarded  the  Sabbath  as  truly  the  Lord's  Hay — 
a  day  to  be  devoted  specially  to  the  service  of  God,  and  not  to  temporal 
pleasures  and  enjoyments — entertainments  and  mere  recreation.  In 

*  Dayton's  "  Last  Days  of  Knickerbocker  Life  in  New  York." 


82 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


household  affairs  as  little  labor  as  possible  was  performed.  As  a  rule, 
the  meals  on  Sunday  were  cold  collations  of  the  baked  meats  of  Satur- 
day, and  so  the  servants  were  allowed  to  rest.  Attendance  upon  public 
worship  was  general  and  punctual.  Three  times  a  day  were  seen  staid 
processions  in  the  streets  of  men,  women,  and  children  going  to  or 
returning  from  places  of  divine  worship.  Friends,  when  they  met,  gave 
only  a  nod  of  recognition.  Few  vehicles  were  seen  in  the  streets,  for 
omnibuses  and  street-cars  were  then  unknown,  and  coaches  were  seldom 
out  on  Sundays.  Every  precaution  was  taken  to  prevent  disturbance 
of  worshippers  by  noises  in  the  streets.  So  agreed  was  public  opinion 
on  the  subject  of  the  holiness  of  the  Sabbath  and  the  necessity  for  its 
religions  observance,  that  the  few  gay  young  men  who  disregarded  it 
and  took  rides  into  the  country  beyond  Murray  Hill  and  Bloomingdale 
rather  shyly  avoided  the  more  public  thoroughfares.  These  sinners 
were  often  the  subject  of  earnest  intercession  at  evening  prayers. 

In  some  churches  the  methods  were  as  inflexible  as  cast-iron.  There 
were  no  instruments  of  music  heard  ;  the  singing  was  inharmonious  ; 
the  opening  prayers  were  as  long  as  sermons,  and  the  sermons- were 
rigidly  doctrinal,  protracted,  and  tedious. 

The  Middle  Dutch  Reformed  Church  (late  the  city  Post-Office)  was 
one  of  the  oldest  and  most  noted  of  the  places  of  public  worship  on 
Manhattan  Island.  Its  interior  arrangements  were  in  strong  contrast 
with  the  church  edifices  of  to-day.  The  pulpit  was  very  spacious, 
occupying  the  space  between  the  two  entrance  doors  to  the  church.  It 
was  reached  by  a  flight  of  carpeted  stairs  on  each  side  of  nearly  a  dozen 
steps,  with  mahogany  balustrades.  Over  the  pulpit  was  suspended  a 
sounding-board  to  send  the  voice  of  the  preacher  in  full  force  to  his 
hearers.  Upon  the  pulpit  was  a  square  cushion  of  velvet  for  the  P>ible 
to  rest  on,  with  heavy  silk  tassels  at  each  corner.  The  pews,  with 
straight,  high  backs  and  narrow  seats,  forbade  all  lounging,  or  even  real 
comfort  ;  they  seemed  to  have  been  contrived  for  doing  penance. 

On  each  side  of  the  pulpit  in  special  pews  sat  the  six  elders  and  six 
deacons,  in  a  position  to  bring  the  whole  congregation  under  their  in- 
spection. "  These  twelve  men,"  wrote  a  regular  attendant  on  the 
service  there  sixty  years  ago,  4i  seemed  to  the  youthful  and  irreligious 
portion  of  the  congregation  the  incarnation  of  cold,  relentless  piety, 
deserted  of  every  human  frailty.  .  .  .  When  one  rose,  they  all 
stood  up  ;  when  one  sat  down,  they  all  followed  suit,  as  if  acted  upon 
simultaneously  by  an  electric  wire.  Their  black  dress-coats  seemed  to 
have  been  made  by  one  tailor  ;  their  white  neckcloths  cut  from  one 
piece  of  cambric,  washed,  ironed,  and  folded  by  the  same  laundress  : 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


83 


the  bow-knots,  even,  seemed  to  have  been  adjusted  by  the  same 
hand."  * 

When  the  sermon  began  the  twenty-four  eyes  of  the  dozen  elders  and 
deacons  were  fixed  on  the  minister,  and  the  younger  portion  of  the 
congregation  felt  a  relief,  for  irregularities  would  not  be  seen  by  these 
devout  worshippers  while  the  sermon  lasted.  "  They  sat  as  motionless 
as  statues/'  says  Dayton.  "The  terrors  of  the  bottomle  ss  pit  pro- 
claimed by  the  uncompromising  Brownlee  ;  the  beatitude  of  the  blest 
hopefully  dwelt  on  by  the  gentle  Knox  ;  the  pressing  invitations  to 
repentance  heralded  in  powerful  tones  by  the  more  youthful  and 
impulsive  De  Witt,  were  alike  unavailing  to  produce  the  slightest 
variation  in  the  stereotyped  countenances  of  these  twelve  leading- 
dignitaries  of  the  Middle  Dutch  Church." 

There  was  no  organ.  In  the  space  under  the  pulpit  stood  the  choris- 
ter with  a  tuning-fork,  who  pitched  the  tune  and  led  the  congregation 
in  singing,  sometimes  twelve  stanzas  with  the  Doxology.  In  that 
capacity  chorister  Earl  served  the  church  many  years. 

Now,  how  changed  !  The  architecture  of  the  church  edifices,  the 
sermons,  the  music,  and  the  Sunday  demeanor  of  deacons  and  elders 
and  other  subordinate  adjuncts  of  the  church  service  have  been  trans- 
formed. As  a  rule  the  sermons  are  short  moral  essays  on  the  beauty  of 
holiness,  the  love  of  God  and  man,  and  exhortations  to  be  more  and 
more  Christlike  in  daily  life.  Dayton  may  have  drawn  the  contrast 
with  a  rather  free  pen  when  he  wrote  ten  years  ago  :  "  Smiling  clergy- 
men delight  their  listeners  ;  smart,  dapper  elders  and  deacons,  with 
beaming  countenances,  gay  neckties,  and  jewelled  shirt-fronts,  are  the 
admiration  of  the  young.  No  chorister  and  tuning-fork,  hut  instead 
a  charming  prima  donna,  sustained  by  a  tenor  and  basso  of  acknowl- 
edged operatic  reputation,  is  hidden  from  public  gaze  by  the  rich 
curtains  of  the  organ-loft,  Avhere  she  warbles  with  exquisite  skill  the 
choicest  solos  of  modern  art,  while  the  new  school  reclines  on  velvet 
cushions,  so  enchanted  by  the  performance  that  were  it  not  for  some 
vague,  misty  associations  connected  with  the  day  and  place,  it  would 
be  acknowledged  by  the  clapping  of  jewelled  hands  and  a  floral 
tribute." 

Then  the  psalms  and  hymns  were  so  clearly  enunciated  in  church 
singing  that  no  listener  was  puzzled  ;  now  some  church  choirs  so 
muttie  the  words  in  pronunciation  that  no  listener  can  follow  them  in- 
telligently without  a  book.    Was  not  the  exasperated  hearer  justified 

*  Dayton's  "  Last  Days  of  Knickerbocker  Life  in  New  York." 


84 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


when,  after  trying  in  vain  to  follow  the  words  so  disguised,  wrote  on 
the  fly-leaf  of  a  psalm-book  : 

"  If  old  King  David  should,  for  once, 
To  this  good  house  repair, 
And  hear  his  psalms  thus  warbled  forth, 
Good  gracious  !  how  he'd  swear." 

The  Puritanic  Sabbath,  with  all  its  order  and  solemn  gravity  and  its 
rigid  observances,  has  also  been  transformed.  To  a  large  portion  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  metropolis  to-day  the  interior  of  a  church  is  a 
less  familiar  place  than  the  theatre  or  concert-room. 

Knickerbocker  life  was  like  its  Sabbaths  :  steady,  orderly,  calm, 
real,  devoted  to  a  purpose,  and  always  marked  by  unswerving  observ- 
ance of  all  ethical  requirements.  It  was  distinguished  by  plodding,  un- 
tiring industry,  accompanied  by  generous  thrift,  which  always  secured 
a  competence  for  the  time  of  old  age.  Speculating  schemes  were  sel- 
dom conceived  or  undertaken.  Their  tastes  were  sensible,  their  desires 
were  moderate,  and  their  wants  Avere  comparatively  few  ;  and  society 
was  not  made  feverish  by  rivalries  in  the  structure  of  mansions  or  in 
equipages  and  entertainments.  The  ladies  were  modestly  attired, 
often  in  rich  stuffs,  but  plainly  made  up.  Indeed,  there  were  not  deft 
fingers  enough  then  to  have  met  a  tithe  of  the  requirements  of  fashion 
in  dress  in  our  generation,  for  the  sewing-machine  was  not  yet  in- 
vented. Only  the  tiny  needle  wielded  by  expert  ringers  performed  the 
labor  on  every  garment. 

Knickerbocker  life  was  marked  by  the  best  features  of  genuine  hospi- 
tality, heartfelt,  unostentatious,  and  informal.  Hospitality  so  adminis- 
tered to-day  would  be  regarded  as  parsimonious,  if  not  stingy  and 
selfish.  While  it  was  on  occasion  far-reaching,  the  chief  sphere  of  its 
operations  was  the  circle  of  relations  by  blood  or  marriage.  Its  princi- 
pal power  and  beneficence  was  generated  in  the  home,  where  the  wife 
and  mother  reigned  as  queen.  In  those  days  homes — genuine  homes — 
abounded.  Frugality  was  the  rule,  extravagance  the  exception. 
Frugality  was  the  sceptre  that  ruled  all  hospitality,  and  order,  cleanli- 
ness, abundance,  and  good  taste  distinguished  all  entertainments. 
Parental  authority  was  supreme  in  all  things,  and  filial  love  and  obedi- 
ence everywhere  abounded.  Overflowing  social  pleasures  were  tem- 
pered by  wise  moderation. 

The  tables  of  the  Knickerbockers  were  very  simple  in  the  variety  of 
their  viands,  but  prodigal  in  quantity.  Generally  there  was  a  bountiful 
repast  of  meats  or  poultry,  or  both,  with  vegetables.    These  constituted 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


85 


one  course,  and  were  followed  by  pies,  puddings,  tarts,  wine,  and  fruit 
— apples,  nuts,  and  raisins.  All  of  these  viands  were  prepared  under 
the  direct  supervision  of  the  mistress  of  the  household,  for  she  was  too 
well  instructed  in  cooking-  matters  and  too  jealous  of  the  good  name  of 
her  cookery  to  delegate  this  business  to  hirelings. 

The  finest  furniture  then  in  general  use,  in  kind  and  quantity,  would 
now  be  called  mean.  There  were,  of  course,  exceptions.  The  parlors 
and  drawing-rooms  were  furnished  with  stiff,  high-hacked,  and  ponder- 
ous mahogany  chairs,  upholstered  with  shining  hair-cloth  coverings  and 
standing  at  measured  distances  along  the  walls  of  the  rectangular 
rooms.  There  were  rocking-chairs  of  the  same  pattern  ;  also  sofas  of 
the  same  materials,  with  rounded  seats  and  hard  rolls  at  each  end.  which 
were  dignified  with  the  name  of  pillows — pillows  of  stone  ;  a  high 
mahogany  ""secretary,"  with  a  bookcase  with  glazed  doors  standing 
upon  it  ;  a  pier-table  for  the  family  Bible,  a  commentary,  and  a  psalm- 
and  hymn-book  ;  a  pier  (and  possibly  a  mantel)  mirror  ;  a  modest 
chandelier  for  the  use  of  wax  or  sperm  candles  (for  illuminating  gas  had 
not  yet  set  the  city  in  a  blaze  of  artificial  light);*  a  heavy  and  spacious 
mahogany  sideboard,  well  furnished  with  dumpy  decanters  filled  with 
Madeira  wine,  Santa  Cruz  rum,  and  cordials,  of  which  the  favorite 
was  called  "  perfect  love."  These  were  flanked  by  baskets  of  dough- 
nuts and  crullers,  free  to  all,  and  symbolized  the  universal  hospitality. 

I  went  to  housekeeping  in  1820,"  said  the  venerable  John  W.  De- 
grauw,  an  octogenarian  merchant,  to  the  writer,  "  and  the  largest  item 
of  our  expense  in  furnishing  the  building  was  for  a  sideboard  and  an 
elegant  collection  of  cut-glass  to  put  on  it."  A  spindle-legged  piano- 
forte (nearly  all  f&rte),  perhaps  the  most  extravagant  piece  of  furni- 
ture in  the  room,  nearly  completed  the  outfit.  The  windows  were 
veiled  with  green  Venetian,  inside  blinds,  and  modest  curtains,  while 
on  the  walls  hung  family  portraits,  a  "  sampler"  from  the  skilled  fingers 
of  a  loving  feminine  friend  or  relative,  and  in  the  houses  of  the  more 
wealthy  one  or  more  fine  paintings,  generally  copies  from  the  works  of 
the  old  masters  ;  also  a  few  choice  engravings. 

*  Illuminating  gas  was  first  permanently  introduced  into  Xew  York  in  1825.  Its  intro- 
duction had  been  unsuccessfully  attempted  in  1812.  The  New  York  Gas  Light  Company 
was  incorporated  in  1823,  with  a  capital  of  $1,000,000.  The  extent  of  its  privileges  was 
limited  to  the  city  below  Canal  and  Grand  streets.  Pipes  were  first  laid  under  Broad- 
way from  the  Battery  to  Canal  Street.  Prejudices  had  to  be  encountered,  and  for  several 
years  the  progress  of  lighting  the  city  by  gas  was  slow.  In  1830  the  Manhattan  Gas 
Light  Company  was  incoqiorated,  with  a  capital  of  $600,000,  for  the  purpose  of  lighting 
the  upper  part  of  the  city.  The  method  soon  became  popular.  To-day  almost  the 
entire  island  has  a  network  of  gas-pipes  beneath  its  surface. 


8G 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


The  fireplaces  in  these  houses  were  bordered  by  slabs  of  variegated 
Italian  marble,  the  shelves  supporting  high  silver  candlesticks  with 
snuffers  and  tray,  and  china  vases  on  pedestals  tilled  with  artificial 
flowers,  and  sometimes  with  natural  grasses. 

Most  of  the  better  class  of  dwellings  were  elegantly  finished  with 
solid  mahogany  doors  and  wainscoted  with  oak  or  other  woods.  The 
ceilings  were  high,  the  rooms  spacious,  and  even  the  country-seats  that 
dotted  the  island  here  and  there  were  beautifully  laid  out  with  well-cul- 
tivated gardens  and  lawns.  A  fine  house  on  Broadway  could  then  be 
rented  for  eight  hundred  dollars. 

In  these  houses  there  was  solid  domestic  enjoyment.  Great  oak  or 
hickory  logs  burned  on  huge  brass  andirons  in  the  spacious  fireplaces, 
tilling  the  rooms  with  a  soft  and  soothing  ruddy  glow,  for  anthracite 
was  not  in  common  use,  and  few  persons  indulged  in  the  luxury  of 
Liverpool  coal.  Hundreds  of  sloops  and  schooners  from  Hudson  River 
towns  and  from  Connecticut  and  Long  Island,  laden  with  fuel,  filled  the 
slips  in  autumn  in  the  North  and  East  rivers,  and  those  who  could 
afford  it  would  buy  a  sloop-load  of  oak  or  hickory  wood  in  the  fall  and 
have  it  sawed  and  piled  in  the  cellar  for  the  winter. 

It  was  the  habit  of  many  families  to  have  the  servant  man  saw  and 
pile  the  wood,  and  to  give  him  as  a  perquisite  the  proceeds  of  the  sales 
of  the  ashes,  then  a  considerable  sum.  This  privilege  sometimes  quick- 
ened the  ambition  and  cupidity  of  servants,  and  impelled  them  to  make 
ashes  faster  than  a  prudent  housekeeper  would  permit.  The  eminent 
merchant,  Stephen  B.  Munn  (who  died  in  1S56),  used  to  tell  the  story 
of  this  propensity  in  an  old  negro  servant  of  his.  Munn  had  put  into 
his  cellar  a  cargo  of  fine  hickory  wood.  He  was  aroused  one  night  by 
a  fearful  roaring  in  the  kitchen  chimney.  He  rushed  to  the  kitchen, 
where  he  found  the  old  negro  fast  asleep  before  a  blazing  pile  of  wood. 
( >n  demanding  what  this  meant,  the  dazed  old  man,  suddenly  aroused 
from  slumber,  said,  M  I — I — I'se  making  ashes,  to  be  sure,  master." 

The  domestic  amusements  of  the  Knickerbockers  were  simple  and 
pleasant.  In  the  summer  tea-parties  and  quilting-parties,  and  in  winter 
"  apple  cuts,*'  were  the  staple  domestic  amusements  of  the  young  peo- 
ple. Assemblies  or  balls,  or  "  publics,'1  as  they  were  called,  held  at 
early  hours,  and  the  theatre  and  circus  constituted  their  most  expensive 
amusements.  At  their  home-parties  the  chief  refreshments  offered 
were  apples,  nuts,  doughnuts,  cider,  and  mulled  wine. 

These  simple  and  healthful  homes — healthful  for  mind  and  body — 
have  passed  away. 

Some  of  the  solid  old  furniture  yet  remains  Avith  families  of  Knicker- 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


87 


bocker  descent,  but  it  is  generally  concealed  from  view  in  garrets  or 
storerooms.  Its  presence  in  the  extravagantly  furnished  apartments  of 
to-day  would  be  an  unmistakable  indication  that  there  had  been  a 
family  back  of  it. 

The  barriers  which  guarded  these  homes  of  more  than  half  a  century 
ago  have  been  broken  down  by  those  twin  enemies  of  domestic  happi- 
ness, luxury  and  pride,  and  to-day  few  adult  persons  in  the  city  of  New 
York  are  living  in  mansions  wherein  they  were  horn.  Society  has  be- 
come restless  and  migratory,  and  every  member  seems  to  be  impelled  to 
motion  bv  a  persistent  voice  like  that  forever  heard  behind  the  "  Wan- 
dering Jew" — Go  on  ! 

The  modest,  unostentatious,  and  true  home  of  sixty  years  ago  has 
given  place  to  structures  and  interior  decorations  and  furnishings  which 
rival  the  creations  of  Aladdin  with  his  wonderful  lamp.  The  fashion- 
able quarters  of  the  city  now  present  long  lines  of  real  palaces— lines  of 
marvellous  specimens  of  skilled  labor  and  ai'tistic  taste,  without  and 
within.  Are  these  structures  and  their  furnishings  homes  in  the  sense 
of  the  best  meaning  of  that  precious  word  ?  How  many  families  who 
now  occupy  these  palaces — these  temples  of  luxury — will  he  their  occu- 
pants even  at  that  period  in  the  near  future  when  the  resounding  bell 
of  Time  shall  toll  the  knell  of  the  departing  nineteenth  century  ?  Of 
many  residents  of  the  city  who  were  boys  in  its  streets  fifty  years  ago, 
it  might  be  truthfully  recorded  : 

"  The  city,  be  saith,  is  fairer  far 

Than  one  which  stood  of  old  ; 
It  gleams  in  the  light  all  crimson  bright 

With  shifting  glimmers  of  gold. 
Where  be  the  homes  my  fathers  built, 

The  houses  where  they  prayed  : 
I  see  in  no  sod  the  paths  they  trod, 

Nor  the  stones  my  fathers  laid. 
On  the  domes  they  spread,  the  roofs  they  reared, 

Has  passed  the  levelling  tide  ; 
My  fathers  lie  low,  and  their  sons  outgrow 

The  bounds  of  their  skill  and  pride." 

The  chief,  indeed  the  only  elegant  promenade  for  the  citizens  in  the 
Knickerbocker  days  was  the  Battery,  an  irregular  (in  outline)  piece  of 
level  ground  fifteen  or  twenty  acres  in  extent  at  the  foot  of  Broadway 
and  facing  the  harbor  of  New  York.  It  was  shaded  with  trees,  trav- 
ersed by  irregular  gravelled  walks,  and  beautified  by  more  irregular 
plots  of  grass.  It  was  furnished  with  benches  along  the  sea-front  and 
occasionally  in  other  parts  of  the  ground  ;  and  there,  late  on  summer 


88 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


afternoons  and  early  evenings,  might  always  be  seen  crowds  of  well- 
dressed  people  and  flocks  of  happy  children,  enjoying  social  intercourse 
and  invigorating  sea-breezes  on  sultry  days.    It  was  a  fashionable  resort 

and  a  genuine  luxury  for  all. 

.11.  .  < 

State  Street,  which  skirted  the  land  side  of  the  Battery,  the  vicinity 

of  the  Bowling  Green  and  Marketfield  and  lower  Greenwich  streets, 
from  all  of  which  glimpses  of  the  harbor  might  be  obtained,  were  the 
chosen  places  of  residence  of  some  of  the  wealthier  and  fashionable 
citizens.  Mr.  Edgar,  a  famous  dry-goods  auctioneer  sixty  years  ago, 
built  a  house  on  Greenwich  Street,  a  few  doors  from  Battery  Place, 
which  was  admired  by  all  people  of  taste  ;  and  next  to  it  Luman 
Reed,  an  extensive  wholesale  grocer  and  a  great  patron  of  the  fine  arts, 
erected  a  splendid  mansion  adjoining  Edgar's.  It  was  filled  with  fine 
paintings  and  other  works  of  art.  No.  1  Broadway  (demolished  in 
1882),  a  spacious  mansion  clustered  with  historic  associations  of  the 
period  of  the  Revolution,  was  the  residence  of  Edward  Prime,  of  the 
great  banking-house  of  Prime,  Ward  &  King.  Next  to  it  had  been  the 
residence  of  Uobert  Fulton.  Stephen  Whitney,  ;i  wholesale  grocer, 
who  at  his  death  left  an  estate  worth  several  million  dollars,  occupied 
one  of  a  row  of  spacious  brick  houses  fronting  the  Bowling  Green  fifty 
years  ago.  Whitney's  was  on  the  corner  of  State  Street.  At  the  other 
end  of  the  row,  corner  of  Whitehall  Street,  lived  John  Hone,  of  the 
great  dry-goods  auction  house  of  Philip  and  John  Hone.  They  had 
amassed  a  fortune  and  dissolved  partnership  in  182<>,  when  Philip  laid 
built  a  fine  mansion  on  Broadway,  near  Park  Place,  and  was  then,  or 
just  before,  mayor  of  the  city.  The  whole  neighborhood  of  the  Bowl- 
ing Green  was  occupied  by  some  of  the  wealthiest  and  most  enterprising 
business  men  in  the  city. 

On  State  Street  were  the  fine  residences  of  leading  business  men  of 
the  day.  No.  6  was  the  dwelling  of  Mr.  Howland  (Howland  &  Aspin- 
wall).  Next  to  it  was  the  house  of  a  son  of  Bishop  Moore.  Near  the 
corner  of  State  and  Bridge  streets  Washington  Irving  lived,  and  at  29 
Whitehall  Street  was  the  dwelling  of  James  K.  Paulding,  a  large 
double  frame  house.  At  13  State  Street  was  the  residence  of  General 
Jacob  Morton,  the  chief  commander  of  the  city  militia,  and  directly  in 
front  of  his  house,  on  the  'Battery,  was  the  Hollow — a  little  shallow 
pond  in  winter  whereon  the  boys  skated,  and  which  was  a  dry,  grassy 
playground  in  summer. 

General  Morton  always  reviewed  the  city  troops — the  "Tompkins 
Blues,"  the  "  Pulaski  Cadets,"  and  others — on  the  Battery.  Indeed 
that  little  irregular  park  was  a  favorite  rendezvous  for  the  military  on 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


8!) 


"  training  days"  until  the  Washington  Parade-Ground  (now  "Washing- 
ton Square)  was  established.  When  General  Morton  became  too  feeble 
to  mount  his  horse  he  reviewed  the  troops  from  his  balcony,  and  on 
these  occasions  received  from  them  the  compliment  of  a  marching 
salute. 

On  State  Street,  near  Pearl,  in  the  later  days  of  Knickerbocker  life  in 
New  York,  was  a  modest  two-storied  house,  the  inn  of  Peter  Bayard, 
himself  a  pure  Knickerbocker  of  Huguenot  descent.  For  many  years 
it  was  the  popular  resort  of  well-to-do  people  of  the  town  and  country, 
who  were  always  sure  of  finding  there  most  unexceptionable  turtle-soup 
and  other  gastronomic  delicacies.  The  house  was  always  full,  for  tran- 
sient sojourners  in  New  York  from  distant  cities  well  knew  the  house 
of  Peter  Bayard. 

Castle  Clinton  (now  known  as  Castle  Garden)  stood  near  the  western 
(Mid  of  the  Battery,  and  was  reached  by  a,  bridge.  It  lias  undergone 
many  transformations,  while  the  Battery  has  been  enlarged  and  is  now 
known  as  Battery  Park.  At  its  eastern  extremity  is  a  station  of  an 
elevated  railway,  a  contrivance  for  rapid  transition  from  one  part  of 
the  city  to  another  which  the  Knickerbockers  never  dreamed  of.  These 
will  be  considered  hereafter. 

In  the  later  days  of  Knickerbocker  life  in  New  York,  Broadway, 
from  the  Battery  to  Prince  Street,  was  the  fashionable  street  prom- 
enade. Few  strolled  above  Canal  Street,  for  it  Avas  then  on  the  north- 
ern border  of  the  business  domain. 

Broadway  was  then  a  modest,  quiet  lane  compared  with  the  great 
bustling  and  crowded  business  thoroughfare  of  to-day.  Where  now 
commercial  buildings  from  six  to  ten  stories  in  height  rise  in  splendor 
and  grandeur,  and  are  seen  miles  away,  into  what  was  then  the  green 
and  wooded  country  toward  Bloomingdale,  plain  brick  (and  many 
wooden)  buildings,  the  loftiest  three  stories  high,  were  seen.  These 
were  not  only  places  for  merchandise' and  traffic,  but  largely  for  dwell- 
ings, for  in  those  days  it  was  the  almost  universal  practice  for  the  fami- 
lies of  merchants  to  occupy  the  apartments  above  the  stores,  and  to 
board  the  few  clerks.  These  buildings  were  ornamented  only  with 
green  blinds,  and  the  front  door  of  entrance  to  the  family  apartments 
was  garnished  with  a  huge  and  shining  brass  knocker  and  door-plate. 
The  tinkling  door-bell  was  yet  an  undiscovered  luxury. 

Below  Park  Place  were  clustered  the  fashionable  retail  stores  of  the 
city,  distinguished  for  style  and  high  prices.  Among  these  the  more 
elderly  reader  will  remember  the  famous  furnishing  store  of  Clark  & 
Saxton,  where  only  the  fashionable  young  man  could  be  sure  of  being 


90 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


equipped  in  an  irreproachable  manner  with  minor  articles  of  his  toilet, 
after  being  clothed  in  exquisite  style  at  the  establishment  of  Tryon, 
Wheeler  <$z  Derby,  booted  by  the  manufactures  of  Kimball  &  Rogers, 
and  crowned  with  a  St.  John  hat. 

Costume  in  the  latter  days  of  Knickerbocker  life  in  Xew  York,  say 
fifty  years  ago,  was  so  strictly  conventional  as  to  modes  and  colors  that 
any  departure  from  the  prescriptions  of  fashion  was  regarded  almost  as 
a  transgression  of  the  laws  of  taste.  In  this  matter  the  inexorable 
tyrant  fashion  ruled  supreme. 

Black  was  the  prevailing  color  for  men,  whether  in  the  counting- 
room,  the  parlor,  or  the  church  ;  at  dinner,  at  the  theatre,  or  at  a  ball. 
In  the  street  the  heads  of  men  were  covered  with  heavy,  high,  bell- 
crowned  hats  of  real  fur  (the  light,  shining  plush  silk  hat  was  then 
unknown),  long-napped  and  abundant.  Their  necks  were  encircled 
witli  broad  satin  stocks,  which  tightly  inclosed  high  standing  sharp 
linen  collars  that  seemed  to  support  the  head  by  the  ears,  and  were 
pointed  like  the  cutwater  of  a  steamboat.  They  wore  short-waisted, 
long  and  narrow-skirted  black  frock-coats,  with  high  collars  and  tight 
sleeves  ;  black  pantaloons,  skin-tight,  the  legs  kept  in  place  by  straps 
beneath  the  boots  ;  and  boots,  high-heeled,  narrow  and  pointed  toes, 
and  made  so  tight  that  only  by  the  free  use  of  hooks  and  soap  could 
they  be  drawn  on.  Black  kid  gloves,  and  among  the  extremely  fash- 
ionable young  men  known  as  "  dandies"  a  small  black  cane,  completed 
the  costume. 

The  women  were  a  little  less  restricted  as  to  color,  but  in  form  were 
no  less  slaves  to  the  dressmaker  and  the  milliner.  They  appeared  in 
the  streets  with  a  hideous-appearing  bonnet  with  high  crown,  in  shape 
not  unlike  a  coal-scuttle,  and  often  trimmed  with  huge  bunches  of  arti- 
ficial flowers,  sometimes  with  a  full-blown  peony.  From  their  shoul- 
ders depended  loose  cloaks  or  shawls  which  effectually  hid  all  charm  of 
figure,  and  under  these,  plain  untrimmed  skirts  reaching  only  to  the 
ankles.  Below  the  skirts  appeared  spotless  white  hose  and  black  slip- 
pers, kept  in  place  by  black  silk  strings  wound  around  the  ankles. 
Their  heads  were  canopied  with  a  spacious  parasol  of  silk  deeply 
h  inged,  and  with  a  ponderous  carved  ivory  handle.  From  their  arms 
depended  bags  of  richly  colored  silk  embroidered  with  manv-hued 
beads.  In  their  hands  they  carried  a  pocket-handkerchief  trimmed 
with  lace  and  daintily  held  at  the  middle  by  the  forefinger  and 
thumb,  so  that  its  whole  dimensions  and  quality  might  be  seen,  for  upon 
these  was  often  estimated  the  pecuniary  standing  of  the  family.  In 
winter  their  necks  were  encircled  with  serpentine  rolls  of  fur  called  a 


FIRST  DECADE,  1330-1840. 


1)1 


"boa,"  with  the  long  ends  dangling  in  front  ;  in  summer  its  comple- 
ment was  a  long  thin  scarf. 

Indoors  the  belles  of  that  day  appeared  in  rather  low-necked  dresses, 
sometimes  fashioned  over  the  bust  in  the  form  of  a  bodice,  stiff  as  steel 
and  whalebone  could  make  it,  with  an  elastic,  steel  or  hickory  "  corset- 
board.''  Generally  there  was  a  broad  waist-belt,  fastened  with  a  large 
and  sometimes  highly  ornamented  buckle.  The  sleeves  were  very 
large,  full,  and  puffed  above  the  elbows  into  a  pattern  styled  "  mutton- 
leg,'"  which  gave  undue  breadth  to  the  shoulders  and  the  appearance  of 
small  span  to  the  waist.  The  "mutton-leg,"1  it  is  said,  was  intro- 
duced by  an  English  duchess  to  conceal  an  enormous  wen  on  one  of  her 
arms.  Below  the  elbow  the  sleeves  were  very  tight.  The  skirt,  as  in 
the  walking-dress,  was  short  and  composed  of  ample  materials.  Flow- 
ing over  the  shoulders  was  a  broad  and  elaborately  wrought  collar  of 
cambric  muslin  and  fine  needlework,  and  the  hair  was  arranged  in 
many  "puffs"  surmounted  by  a  bunch  of  artificial  flowers  or  a tiny 
lace  cap.  Around  the  neck  was  coiled  a  massive  gold  chain,  having  a 
pendant  of  sufficient  length  to  secure  a  gold  watch,  which  was  slipped 
into  the  waist-belt. 

In  those  days  Contoifs  Garden,  on  the  west  side  of  Broadway,  be- 
tween Leonard  and  Franklin  streets,  was  a  fashionable  resort  for  all 
reputable  citizens  of  both  sexes,  young  and  old,  on  summer  afternoons 
and  evenings.  The  garden  was  comprised  in  a  long  narrow  lot  densely 
shaded  with  trees — so  densely  that  the  rays  of  the  sun  could  rarely 
enter.  It  presented  a  cool  retreat  on  sultry  afternoons  and  evenings, 
where  the  most  delicious  ice-cream  in  ample  dishes  and  ice-cold  lemon- 
ade with  pound-cake,  served  by  very  black  waiters  wearing  very  white 
aprons,  might  be  had  for  a  moderate  sum  of  money.  It  was  dimly 
lighted  at  evening  by  tiny  tapers  swimming  in  sperm  oil  in  hanging 
glass  globes,  appearing  but  little  brighter  than  so  many  fire-Hies  on  a 
June  evening.  On  each  side  of  the  garden  were  stalls  painted  white 
and  green,  with  a  narrow  table  in  the  middle  of  each  and  furnished 
with  seats  for  four — if  packed,  for  six.  Contoit's  was  regarded  by  pru- 
dent parents  as  an  eminently  proper  resort  for  young  people  as  well  as 
elders  to  have  refreshments,  for  no  liquor  was  sold  there,  and  there 
were  never  any  naughty  scenes  enacted  there. 

It  was  at  about  this  time,  or  perhaps  a  few  years  earlier,  that  the 
families  of  the  wealthier  and  more  aristocratic  citizens  were  pushed  out 
of  Broadway  by  the  pressure  of  encroaching  business,  and  found  more 
quiet  residences  away  from  the  turmoil  of  trade  and  the  din  of  vehicles 
on  the  cobble-stones.    Cedar  and  Liberty,  John  and  Fulton  streets  had 


92 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


been  given  up  .almost  "wholly  to  business  ;  yet  in  all  of  these  some  fam- 
ilies— scions  of  the  old  Knickerbocker  race — still  remained,  even  then 
clinging-  to  homes  in  Wall  Street.  The  dwellings  in  Cortlandt,  Vesey, 
and  Dey  streets  Avere  rapidly  becoming  boarding-houses,  while  in  Park 
Place,  Murray,  Warren,  and  Chambers  streets  many  members  of  the 
oldest  families  occupied  fine  residences,  such  as  the  Crugers,  Pauldings, 
Lees,  Bayards,  De  Peysters,  Aliens,  Clintons,  Van  Cortlandts,  Lau- 
renses,  Beekmans,  Duanes,  and  others — men  who  had  assisted  in  laying 
the  broad  foundations  of  the  amazing  prosperity  of  the  city  of  New 
York  since  that  time. 

Some  of  these  men  removed  farther  away  from  the  business  portions 
of  the  city  and  built  fine  residences  on  Leonard,  Franklin,  and  White 
streets,  also  on  St.  John's  Park,  in  front  of  St.  John's  Chapel.  White 
Street  was  the  most  direct  way  from  Broadway  to  the  chapel,  and  very 
soon  elegant  brick  dwelling-houses  were  built  on  it.  It  was  for  many 
years  the  fashionable  part  of  the  city. 

On  White  Street,  near  Broadway,  lived  Francis  Depau,  the  owner  of 
a  line  of  Havre  packets,  whose  wife  was  Silvie,  one  of  the  daughters  of 
Count  de  Grasse.  They  had  a  family  of  most  beautiful  daughters. 
One  of  these  married  Washington  Coster.  She  was  pronounced  "  the 
most  beautiful  girl  that  ever  trod  Broadway." 

Hotel  and  boarding-house  life  for  families  was  almost  unknown  fifty 
or  sixty  years  ago.  A  family  who,  from  choice  and  without  pressing 
necessity,  took  up  their  permanent  abode  in  a  hotel  or  boarding-house 
lost  caste  ;  and  those  who  were  compelled  to  do  so  by  circumstances 
were  objects  of  pity  and  commiseration.  The  consequence  was  that  the 
few  hotels  in  the  city  at  that  time  depended  for  support  on  transient 
visitors  and  unmarried  men. 

Tbe  grandest  inn  and  the  most  noted  boarding-house  at  that  time 
were  the  City  Hotel,  which  occupied  the  entire  front  between  Cedar 
and  Thames  streets,  and  the  boarding-house  of  Miss  Margaret  Mann, 
popularly  known  as  "  Aunt  Margaret,"  at  61  Broadway.  Her  house, 
in  size  and  accommodations,  might  have  been  called  an  inn.  There  from 
time  to  time  distinguished  persons  found  comfortable  temporary  homes. 
Among  these  were  John  Sinclair,  the  famous  Scotch  vocalist  (father  of 
Mrs.  Edwin  Forrest),  at  his  first  appearance  at  the  Park  Theatre  in  the 
fall  of  1831.  There,  too,  Tyrone  Power,  the  inimitable  Irish  come- 
dian, was  a  "  guest"  for  a  time,  when  he  first  appeared  in  America,  in 
the  summer  of  1S33.  "  Aunt  Margaret"  will  be  remembered  by  some 
of  the  older  citizens  as  a  driving  business  woman,  masculine  in  appear- 
ance and  manners,  thick-set  and  stout,  but  nimble  of  foot  and  more 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


93 


nimble  of  tongue  when  it  was  loosened  by  provocation.  But  under 
her  rough  exterior  was  concealed  as  kindly  a  heart  as  ever  throbbed  in 
the  breast  of  woman,  and  those  who  knew  her  best  respected  her 
most. 

The  City  Hotel  was  a  plain  brick  structure  four  stories  in  height,  and 
pierced  in  front  by  nearly  forty  windows.  It  was  the  most  noted  hotel 
in  the  Union,  and  magnates  from  everywhere  visiting  the  city  found 
an  agreeable  home  there.  It  was  almost  without  adornment,  inside  and 
outside.  Tight  inside  shutters  at  the  windows  excluded  light  and  air, 
the  furniture  was  plain  but  substantial,  and  the  table  was  always  a 
model  of  cleanliness  and  abundance.  "While  Jennings  and  Willard 
were  its  proprietors  the  City  Hotel  was  the  theatre  of  public  banquets, 
receptions  of  distinguished  persons,  the  fashionable  rendezvous  of 
dancers  at  balls  or  assemblies,  and  concerts  ;  indeed  it  was  a  focal 
point  of  public  entertainments  outside  the  theatres. 

Dancing  was  indulged  in  to  a  very  moderate  extent  in  the  later  days 
of  Knickerbocker  life  in  New  York.  It  was  discountenanced  by  the 
Church,  was  considered  almost  improper  by  fastidious  people,  and  plain 
cotillons  and  even  the  more  exacting  Spanish  dance  were  regarded  by 
the  gayer  people  as  too  tame  to  be  very  attractive. 

At  that  time  John  Charaud  was  the  great  "  dancing-master"  in  the 
c  ity,  and  taught  the  art  to  many  of  the  elderly  men  and  women  of 
to-day  who  were  natives  of  New  York.  He  used  the  ladies'  dining- 
room  of  the  City  Hotel  for  giving  instructions  in  dancing,  and  there, 
with  its  eminently  respectable  surroundings,  he  gave  "publics,"  or 
gatherings  of  the  parents  of  boys  and  girls  who  were  his  pupils,  at 
stated  times,  to  witness  the  scientific  movements  of  their  children. 
Charaud  used  this  room  until  he  built  his  famous  ball-room  in  AVhite 
Street,  between  Church  and  Chapel  streets.  lie  lived  until  he  was 
about  foui'score  and  ten,  and  danced  until  the  last.  He  had  lived  to 
see  the  best  population  of  the  town  flee  before  rapacious  business,  miles 
to  the  northward  and  yet  within  the  thronging  city,  and  his  famous 
ball-room  became  a  dog-pit,  where  the  dregs  of  society  herded. 

The  ladies'  dining-room  of  the  City  Hotel  was  hired  for  concert  pur- 
poses by  foreign  artists  who  came  to  New  York.  A  little  later  than 
the  time  we  are  considering,  Henry  Russell,  an  English  vocalist,  sang 
in  that  room,  and  there  he  first  introduced  to  the  public  General 
Morris's  famous  song,  "  Woodman,  Spare  that  Tree." 

Russell,  though  regarded  by  educated  musicians  and  musical  critics 
as  an  inferior  artist,  became  quite  a  "  lion"  in  New  York.  He  and 
the  author  of  "  AVoodman,  Spare  that  Tree,"  often  met  in  social  circles. 


94 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


It  is  related  that  on  one  of  these  occasions,  when  Captain  Marryat,  the 
eminent  English  novelist,  was  of  the  company,  Russell  was  invited  to 
sing-  the  popular  song.  As  he  was  singing  the  closing  stanza,  Marryat 
approached  the  piano  and  laid  before  the  vocalist  the  following  para- 
phrase of  the  first  stanza,  written  in  pencil  : 

"  Lady,  give  me  tea, 

And  I  will  make  a  bow  ; 
In  youth  it  pleased  me, 

And  I  do  love  it  now. 
'Twas  my  old  mother's  hand 

That  poured  it  from  the  pot  ; 
Pray,  lady,  let  it  stand, 

For  it  is  too  d— d  hot !" 

Russell  sang  the  paraphrase  amid  great  merriment,  in  which  the 
author  heartily  joined. 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE  methods  in  the  conduct  of  funerals  in  the  Knickerbocker  era 
were  peculiar.  The  religious  ceremonies  were  usually  performed 
at  the  home  of  the  deceased,  where,  after  they  were  ended,  liquors  were 
dispensed  to  the  whole  company  in  attendance.  Those  who  for  want 
of  room  were  compelled  to  remain  outside  the  house,  were  served  by 
colored  waiters  with  towels  on  their  arms,  and  bearing  rilled  decanters 
with  glasses  on  a  salver.  These  liquors  were  generally  cordials,  which 
exhilarated  but  did  not  intoxicate. 

The  graveyards  were  usually  not  far  from  the  dwellings,  and  instead 
of  employing  a  hearse  the  coffin  was  carried  on  a  bier,  on  the  shoulders 
of  four  men,  while  the  pall-bearers  walked  alongside  and  held  the  black 
tassels  of  the  pall.  Each  of  these  pall-bearers,  as  well  as  the  minister 
and  the  physician,  was  furnished  with  a  fine  white  linen  scarf  having 
sufficient  material  to  make  a  shirt.  This  fashion  of  furnishing  scarfs 
became  an  arbitrary  custom,  which  often  bore  heavily  upon  the 
resources  of  families  in  moderate  circumstances.  Many  worthy  people 
were  sorely  pinched  to  provide  this  apparently  necessary  mark  of 
respect  for  deceased  relatives. 

At  length  members  of  the  old  Tontine  Association — the  most  re- 
spectable society  in  the  city — resolved  to  relieve  the  community  of  this 
burden.  Some  prominent  member  called  a  meeting  at  the  old  Tontine 
Coffee- House,  in  "Wall  Street,  to  discuss  the  subject.  Nearly  two 
hundred  persons  were  present — men  of  weight  in  social  influence — and 
these  all  signed  a  pledge  that  they  would  abstain  from  the  custom  of 
supplying  scarfs  at  funerals,  except  to  the  clergyman  and  attending 
physician.  Their  action  was  immediately  felt  in  a  rapid  decline  of  the 
custom,  and  a  happy  relief  of  the  community  from  a  grievous  burden  to 
many. 

Restaurants  (then  called  "  eating-houses")  were  almost  unknown 
even  in  the  later  days  of  Knickerbocker  life  in  New  York.  They 
were  among  the  earlier  indications  of  "  foreign  influence"  in  the  social 
system  of  the  city,  which  has  transformed  home  diners  at  noon  into 
absentees  from  the  mid-day  meal.    At  the  tables  of  these  "  eating- 


96 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


houses"  a  curious  collection  of  men,  young  and  old,  might  be  seen. 
The  spruce  merchant's  clerk,  neatly  attired,  sat  silently  by  the  side  of 
a  drayman  in  coarse  blouse  or  a  begrimed  street  laborer  in  overalls. 

For  a  long  time  these  places  were  shunned  by  the  conservative  and 
home-loving  Knickerbockers  as  vulgar  :  and  so  they  were.  Xo  re- 
spectable woman  was  ever  seen  entering  their  doors.  She  would  faint 
with  hunger  before  she  would  risk  the  social  stigma.  Even  so  late  as 
1835,  when  James  Thompson  opened  a  "  saloon"  at  117  Broadway  for 
the  sale  of  cakes  and  other  delicacies  for  the  special  accommodation  of 
ladies  out  a-shopping,  and  presented  delicious  temptations  in  his 
windows,  shoppers  were  seldom  beguiled  into  the  attractive  room, 
although  the  sisters  of  the  proprietor,  middle-aged  women,  were  in 
attendance.  Society  said  it  was  not  proper  ;  but  society,  like  an 
individual,  changes  its  opinions.  Thompson,  after  patient  waiting  in 
faith  and  after  preparing  a  palace,  richly  decorated,  up  Broadway,  near 
where  Contoit  flourished,  found  society  yielding.  The  taboo  was 
gradually  removed.  Society  said  ladies  and  gentlemen,  and  even  ladies 
alone,  might  with  propriety  enter  and  partake  of  good  things  offered. 
Knickerbocker  fastidiousness  and  shrinking  modesty  gave  way. 

After  a  while,  when  families  left  apartments  over  stores  and  moved 
ii])  town,  dining-rooms  for  gentlemen  became  popular.  Among  the 
earlier  of  these  was  that  of  Clarke  6c  Brown,  near  the  junction  of 
Maiden  Lane  and  Liberty  Street.  It  became  a  daily  resort  for  mer- 
chants and  professional  men.  For  a  long  time  it  was  visited  almost 
exclusively  by  Englishmen,  who  there  found  their  favorite  rare  roast 
licet',  steaks  barely  warmed  through.,  plum-puddings,  and  "Burton's 
stock  ale,"  though  brewed  by  Mr.  Vassar  at  Poughkeepsie  or  at  Phila- 
delphia. The  Knickerbockers  did  not  take  kindly  to  this  fare.  They 
were  accustomed  to  thoroughly  cooked  food,  and  did  not  like  the  crim- 
son juice  as  a  substitute  for  gravy.  But  after  a  while  Knickerbocker 
prejudice  gave  way  ;  Knickerbocker  taste  changed,  and  the  dining- 
rooms  of  Clarke  6c  Brown  became  a  cosmopolitan  resort  for  hungry 
men. 

Meanwhile  a  thoroughly  American  restaurant,  which  was  dignified 
with  the  name  of  the  Auction  Hotel,  was  opened  in  Water  Street,  near 
Wall  Street.  It  derived  its  title  from  its  proximity  to  the  great  auc- 
tion rooms  of  Haggerty  6c  Sons,  Wihuerding  6c  Co.,  and  other  famous 
auctioneers.  The  proprietor  had  been  a  merchant,  failed  in  business, 
opened  this  restaurant,  and  was  very  prosperous.  One  day  he  invited 
all  his  creditors  to  a  bountiful  repast.  The  table  was  spread  in  an 
upper  private  room.    In  the  napkins  placed  before  each  guest  was 


FIRST  DECADE,  1S30-1840. 


97 


found  a  sealed  envelope,  which  when  opened  was  found  to  contain  a 
check  for  the  principal  and  interest  of  their  respective  claims.  This 
honest  act  brought  to  the  proprietor  the  substantial  reward  of  vastly 
increased  business,  and  he  died  a  rich  man. 

At  about  this  time  a  colored  man  named  Downing  became  famous 
among  lovers  of  oysters — and  who  is  not  a  lover  of  oysters  ? — because 
of  his  rare  skill  in  preparing  them  for  the  table.  Downing's  "  oyster 
cellar"  consisted  of  the  basement  of  two  small  buildings  in  Broad 
Street,  near  "Wall  Street.  It  became  the  favorite  resort  of  merchants, 
bankers,  brokers,  lawyers,  and  politicians — a  sort  of  social  exchange. 
Downing  flourished,  was  called  "  Prince  Saddleback,"  accumulated  a 
fortune,  and  at  a  ripe  old  age  left  the  establishment  and  its  "good 
will  "  to  his  son,  George  T. 

Another  famous  restaurant -keeper  was  Edward  Windust,  who  occu- 
pied a  basement  on  Park  Row,  near  the  old  Park  Theatre.  It  was  a 
favorite  resort  of  theatrical  and  literary  people  of  every  degree.  Be- 
tween the  plays  at  the  Park  it  was  always  crowded  with  jolly  fellows. 
The  walls  were  adorned  with  quaint  and  curious  reminiscences  of  the 
drama :  musty  old  theatre  bills,  a  piece  of  some  ancient  wardrobe,  a 
frame  with  a  lock  of  Shakespeare's  hair,  a  sword  used  on  the  stage  by 
Garrick,  on  a  shelf  a  rare  volume  of  plays  and  other  antiquated  arti- 
cles familiar  to  players.    It  was  an  actor's  museum. 

At  Windust's  half  a  century  ago,  or  even  within  a  generation, 
actoi's  and  literary  magnates  met  nightly  in  social  intercourse.  There 
might  have  been  seen,  fifty  or  more  years  ago,  Cooper,  Edmund  Kean, 
Junius  Brutus  Booth  (father  of  Edwin  Booth),  T.  G.  Hamblin,  the 
Wallacks  (Henry  and  James),  Henry  Placide,  Simpson,  the  manager  of 
the  Park  ;  "  Old  Barnes,"'  and  a  score  of  lesser  theatrical  lights,  with 
leading  men  in  the  realm  of  literature  and  art  in  the  city  at  that  time. 

Windust  became  rich,  and  with  riches  came  undue  ambition.  He 
left  his  famous  basement  in  Park  Row  and  opened  the  Athenaeum 
Hotel,  on  the  corner  of  Broadway  and  Leonard  Street,  where  his  beau- 
tiful daughters  and  nieces  might  have  been  seen  flitting  through  the 
halls  and  up  the  staircases.  "Windust  had  entered  waters  too  deep 
for  him,  in  trying  to  keep  a  hotel.  The  Athenaeum  was  soon  closed. 
He  went  back  to  his  basement,  but  its  prestige  had  departed  never  to 
return. 

These  were  the  principal  restaurant-keepers  in  New  York  half  a  cen- 
tury ago,  and  were  participants  in  the  social  transformation  to  which 
allusion  has  been  made. 

Another  feature  of  this  social  transformation  in  Xew  York  appeared 


98 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


more  than  fifty  years  ago,  when  Delmonico  and  Guerin  established 
cafes — a  purely  European  innovation.  They  were  the  pioneers  in  the 
business  in  New  York.  They  began  on  a  small  scale.  Delmonico's 
establishment  was  in  a  small  store  on  William  Street,  opposite  the 
North  Dutch  Church.  It  contained  a  half-dozen  pine  tables,  and 
wooden  chairs  to  match,  and  on  a  board  counter  covered  with  snow- 
white  napkins  was  ranged  the  scanty  assortment  of  delicacies  to  be 
served.  He  had  earthenware  cups  and  saucers,  two-tined  forks  and 
knives  with  buck-bone  handles,  common  "  blown''  glassware,  and  a 
large  tin  coffee-pot.  His  tiny  bill  of  fare  contained  the  mysterious 
words  now  so  common — "filets,"  "cafe,"  "chocolat,"  "macaroni," 
' '  petit  verne, ' '  and  other  French  names.  These  were  served  by  Del- 
monico in  person,  who  was  distinguished  by  a  white  paper  cap  and 
apron.  His  courteous  manner  and  his  novelties  soon  attracted  the 
young  Knickerbockers,  who  acknowledged  his  cookery  to  be  superior 
to  any  known  in  the  city.  But  these  youths  made  their  visits  at  in- 
tervals, generally  indulging  in  the  pleasures  of  the  cafe  on  a  Saturday 
afternoon,  when  two  or  three  would  agree  to  meet  there,  but  in  a 
secret  way,  for  it  seemed  to  them  as  almost  forbidden  ground. 

The  customers  of  Delmonico  gradually  increased  until  his  little  shop 
became  too  small  for  their  accommodation,  and  he  removed  to  Hanover 
Square,  where,  in  the  great  conflagration,  his  continually  growing 
establishment  was  licked  up  by  the  rapacious  flames  and  disappeared  in 
smoke.  Phoenix-like,  it  arose  from  the  ashes  rejuvenated,  and  on  the 
corner  of  William  and  Beaver  streets  he  built  a  spacious  restaurant, 
where  he  and  his  brothers,  with  their  sons  and  nephews,  accumulated 
fortunes.  "  Delmonico's"  to-day  is  the  most  extensive,  magnificent, 
and  expensive  cafe  on  this  continent. 

Delmonico's  rival  at  first  was  Francis  Guerin,  a  Frenchman,  who 
opened  a  cafe  on  Broadway,  opposite  the  City  Hotel.  His  shop-window 
was  a  most  inviting  temptation  to  the  palate.  There  was  pastry  of  all 
kinds,  French  confectionery  in  handsome  boxes,  bottles  of  cordials, 
and  all  kinds  of  fruit  in  their  season.  Inside,  on  along  table,  were  dis- 
played tarts  and  confections  in  abundance.  Sandwiches,  sardines,  and 
the  sweet  things  just  mentioned  were  the  staple  offerings  of  the  estab- 
lishment to  its  customers.  It  was  never  a  real  cafe,  though  a  little 
coffee  and  chocolate  Avere  furnished  in  a  small  room  at  the  rear  of  the 
store  ;  and  there,  in  summer,  ice-cream  might  be  procured.  It  was 
never  entered  by  ladies,  and  it  finally  degenerated  into  a  cosmopolitan 
drinking-saloon.  As  such  it  became  very  popular,  and  Guerin  soon 
made  a  fortune. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


99 


Delmonico  was  a  generous,  enterprising  Italian,  who  started  on  a 
fixed  plan,  and  adhered  to  it;  a  sound,  intelligent  man,  who  aimed  to 
please  both  the  eye  and  palate,  and  lived  to  find  his  fame  established 
all  over  the  United  States,  and  even  in  Europe.  Guerin  was  a  penuri- 
ous Frenchman,  without  personal  ambition,  who  accumulated  an  im- 
mense estate,  but  left  no  record  of  how  he  lived  or  how  he  died. 

It  was  at  near  the  close  of  the  Knickerbocker  era  in  New  York  that 
the  convenient  omnibus  was  first  introduced  into  the  city  by  a  shrewd 
Connecticut  man  (Humphrey  Phelps),  who  afterward  became  quite  an 
extensive  map  publisher  in  the  metropolis.  lie  was  the  driver  of  his 
own  vehicle.  The  hint  was  instantly  acted  upon,  and  when  the  sys- 
tem was  fairly  inaugurated  there  were  three  rival  lines,  and  Phelps  left 
the  field  to  his  competitors.  Before  the  advent  of  these  vehicles  citizens 
who  could  not  afford  to  own  a  coach  depended  on  their  own  natural 
powers  of  locomotion. 

The  first  omnibus  appeared  in  1830.  It  traversed  Broadway,  from 
the  Bowling  Green  to  Bleecker  Street.  In  stormy  weather,  or  when 
there  was  a  lady  among  the  passengers,  the  obliging  driver  would  go 
as  far  as  the  Kip  mansion,  on  the  site  of  the  New  York  Hotel. 

The  omnibuses  were  few  in  number.  They  were  finely  decorated, 
and  bore  the  names  of  distinguished  American  citizens  emblazoned 
on  their  sides.  There  was  the  "  Lady  Washington, 1 '  the  "  Lady 
Clinton,"  the  "George  Washington,"  the  "  De  Witt  Clinton,"  the 
"  Benjamin  Franklin,"  the  "  Thomas  Jefferson,"  etc.  These  vehicles 
were  drawn  by  four  matched  horses. 

The  rival  lines  of  stages  were  owned  respectively  by  Abraham 
Brower,  Evan  Jones,  and  —  Colvill.  Brower's  "  stables"  were  mere 
sheds,  on  Broadway,  opposite  Bond  Street  ;  Jones's  were  on  White 
Street,  and  Colvill's  on  Grand  Street,  just  east  of  Broadway.  The 
fares  (one  shilling  each)  were  collected  by  a  small  boy  avIio  stood  on 
the  step  at  the  entrance  to  the  omnibus. 

Very  soon  a  fourth  line  of  omnibuses  was  established  by  Asa  Hall,  a 
hatter  on  Dey  Street,  which  started  from  the  corner  of  Pine  and  Nas- 
sau streets,  went  up  Broadway  to  Canal  Street,  thence  to  Hudson 
Street,  and  by  the  green  fields  and  gardens  until  it  reached  the  village 
of  Greenwich,  the  terminus  of  the  route  being  (present)  Charles  Street. 
The  fare  was  twenty-five  cents  each.  This  afterward  famous  "  Green- 
wich Line"  of  stages  Hall  sold  to  two  enterprising  young  men,  Messrs. 
Kip  and  Brown.  They  made  money  rapidly.  Kip  became  the  soul  of 
enterprise  and  good  deeds  in  Greenwich  Village.  The  business  of  the 
route  was  finally  ruined  by  the  building  of  the  Eighth  Avenue  Rail- 


ICO 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


road.  Kip  lost  his  fortune  largely  in  litigation  with  the  huge  monopoly, 
and  died  poor. 

In  those  days  the  livery  husiness  was  so  risky  that  its  accommoda- 
tions were  few.  If  a  gentleman  desired  to  take  a  lady  on  a  ride  out  of 
town,  and  did  not  possess  a  carriage  of  his  own,  he  was  compelled  to 
search  the  city  for  a  nice  one,  and  give  a  day  or  two's  notice  in  order  to 
secure  it. 

Society,  so  called,  near  the  close  of  the  Knickerbocker  era  in  New 
York,  was  not  subdivided  as  now.  Business  was  open,  straightforward, 
truthful,  and  sincere.  Men  made  fortunes  by  industry  and  thrift,  and 
kept  them  by  the  exercise  of  prudence  and  sound  judgment.  They  did 
not,  as  a  rule,  retire  from  business  to  live  an  idle  life,  unless  compelled 
to  do  so  by  old  age  or  sickness.  There  seemed  to  be  no  royal  road  to 
wealth  or  distinction.  The  road  to  these  acquisitions  was  the  old 
beaten  track,  and  pursued  by  men  of  every  degree.  Fortunes  were  not 
made  and  lost  in  a  day.  (rambling  in  stocks  was  unknown.  Credit 
was  based  more  upon  personal  character  than  upon  estates. 

Tbere  were  few  overshadowing  fortunes  in  those  days.  Rich  men 
(then  so  esteemed)  did  not,  as  a  rule,  possess  more  of  an  estate  in  value 
than  the  sums  now  annually  spent  by  many  men  in  meeting  the 
expenses  of  their  respective  princely  habitations.  Every  man  who  paid 
his  debts  punctually,  thrived  by  frugality,  and  rigidly  conformed  to  the 
requirements  of  social  ethics,  was  thoroughly  respected  by  all  classes, 
whether  he  was  a  professional  man,  a  merchant,  or  an  artisan,  for  it 
was  the  prevailing  sentiment  in  society  that 

"  Worth  makes  the  man,  the  want  of  it  the  fellow." 

Dinner  and  evening  parties  were  not  frequent,  even  among  the  rich, 
and  stated  reception  days  or  evenings  were  not  known,  for  calls  or 
visits  were  acts  of  genuine  friendship,  and  not  of  mere  ceremony,  as 
now.  There  was  always  a  warm  welcome  for  all  proper  visitors,  and 
the  recipient  of  guests  was  not  "put  out"  by  an  unceremonious 
call. 

On  particular  occasions,  like  that  of  a  wedding,  cards  of  invitation 
were  sent  out  ;  outside  experts  were  employed,  and  much  ceremony, 
as  in  the  olden  time,  was  observed.  About  1830  a  colored  man  named 
Jackson,  who  lived  in  Howard  Street,  was  the  renowned  caterer  on 
such  occasions.  He  was  the  final  umpire  in  all  cases,  excepting  when  a 
jury  of  old  ladies,  whose  youth  had  been  spent  in  the  last  century,  de- 
cided otherwise.    He  was  pompous  and  fussy,  and  was  seen  at  all  the 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


101 


great  wedding  parties.  The  wedding-cake  in  those  days  was  almost 
invariably  made  by  good  Katie  Ferguson,  a  colored  woman  in  Warren 
Street,  who  organized  the  first  Sunday-school  in  the  city  of  New  York. 
The  cake  was  made  at  the  home  of  the  bride,  and  Katie  was  sent  for 
from  all  quarters  to  superintend  its  composition. 

At  the  wedding  feast  everything  bore  the  features  of  solidity,  though 
dainty  delicacies  were  not  wanting.  Abundance  was  a  conspicuous 
feature.  Hams,  chickens,  turkeys,  sometimes  game,  home-made  pre- 
serves, brandy-peaches,  nuts,  lady-apples,  oranges,  grapes,  and  raisins 
were  seen  in  high  china  dishes.  A  towerino*  form  of  ice-cream  from 
Contoit's  graced  the  table  and  gave  promise  to  the  palate  of  delicious 
enjoyment.  Champagne  was  seldom  used,  but  poi't,  sherry,  and 
Madeira  always  enlivened  the  marriage-supper.  Wherever  in  the  room 
a  silver  candlestick  could  be  placed,  wax  candles  added  their  soft,  mel- 
low light  to  that  of  astral  lamps. 

Social  evening  gatherings  were  preceded  by  invitations  "  to  tea"  or 
"to  spend  the  evening."  In  either  case  it  was  understood  that  the 
guests  were  to  appear  as  early  as  seven  o'clock,  and  retire  not  later 
than  ten  o'clock.  To  "spend  the  evening"  implied  engaging  in 
simple  social  enjoyment,  untrammelled  by  conventional  rules.  Their 
enjoyment  consisted  in  dancing,  singing,  a  quiet  game  of  whist  by  the 
elders,  and  "  plays,"  such  as  "  button,  button,  who's  got  the  button  ?" 
"  hunt  the  slipper,"  "pawns,"  etc.,  by  the  young  people.  Only  the 
modest  cotillon  and  sometimes  the  ancient  minuet  were  allowed,  for 
New  York  had  not  yet  consented  to  let  its  sons  and  daughters  engage 
in  the  round  dances  or  the  exciting  waltz.  Refreshments  were  handed 
round  by  waiters. 

At  "  tea"  everything  was  informal.  The  mistress  of  the  household 
presided  at  the  table.  The  family  silver,  china,  and  cut-glass  ware 
were  displayed,  and  there  was  a  bountiful  provision  of  shortcake,  bis- 
cuits, preserves,  dried  beef,  sweet-cake,  and  tea  and  coffee.  At  these 
evening  gatherings  of  friends,  the  majority  of  the  company  wei'e  of  the 
gentler  sex. 

Public  "  balls"  or  "  assemblies"  at  the  Apollo  Rooms,  in  Broadway 
near  Canal  Street,  though  conducted  with  great  propriety,  were 
regarded  as  indelicate  if  not  vulgar  by  the  staid  Knickerbockers,  and  it 
was  not  until  balls,  disguised  under  the  name  of  "  reunions,"  conducted 
by  the  reigning  prince  of  dancers,  Charaud,  Avere  held  at  the  City 
Hotel  that  Knickerbocker  fastidiousness  consented  to  give  free  rein  to 
the  inclination  of  the  young  people  in  that  direction.  Charaud  had 
taught  their  mothers  and  even  grandmothers  the  art  of  dancing,  and 


102 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


he,  as  floor  manager,  stamped  these  "  reunions''  with  the  seal  of  pro- 
priety. 

The  drama,  presenting  the  great  masters  in  literature  and  the  histri- 
onic art,  was  always  a  fascinating  and  instructive  amusement  ;  but  the 
theatre  was  not  generally  popular  among  thoughtful  Knickerbockers, 
hecause  of  its  shortcomings  in  intellect  and  morals,  until  the  judicious 
management  of  the  Park  Theatre,  by  Price  and  Simpson,  overcame  all 
serious  objections.  More  and  more  frequently  Knickerbocker  families 
of  influence  (excepting  church -members)  were  seen  in  the  dress-circle  at 
the  Park,  and  it  was  admitted  that  the  playhouse  so  conducted  was 
highly  reputable. 

The  Park  Theatre  was  built  in  1798.  It  was  destroyed  by  fire  and 
rebuilt  in  1821,  and  its  auditorium  was  so  extensive  that  twenty-five 
hundred  persons  might  be  comfortably  seated  in  it.  The  scenery  was 
mostly  painted  by  the  skilful  hand  of  John  Evers,  one  of  the  founders 
of  the  National  Academy  of  the  Arts  of  Design,  yet  (18S3)  living  at 
Hempstead,  L.  I.  Its  interior  decorations  were  attractive,  but  its 
front,  on  Park  Row,  was  so  plain  that  it  might  have  been  mistaken  for 
an  old-fashioned  Methodist  meeting-house,  had  not  a  wooden  statue  of 
Shakespeare,  standing  over  the  main  entrance,  proclaimed  it  a  temple 
of  the  histrionic  muse. 

The  entrances  to  the  Park  Theatre  were  narrow  and  dark,  the  utter 
blackness  being  subdued  by  the  feeble  light  of  oil  lamps.  The  lobbies 
were  dingy  and  dirty,  and  as  plain  as  the  mason  and  carpenter  could 
make  them.  The  auditorium  consisted  of  three  tiers  of  seats  and  the 
pit,  now  styled  the  parquet.  In  the  former  were  settees,  with  backs 
covered  witb  dark  maroon.  The  pit,  wholly  occupied  by  men  and  boys, 
was  entered  by  a  subterranean  passage.  The  benches  were  with- 
out cushions,  with  barely  enough  room  between  them  for  persons  to 
crowd  by. 

Suc  h  was  the  "  finest  playhouse  in  America1'  half  a  century  ago. 
Between  1S21  and  ls.°>o  eminent  actors  (chiefly  English)  trod  its  boards 
— Matthews,  Cooper,  Cook,  Edmund  Kean,  Macready,  Junius  Brutus 
Booth,  the  excellent  Mrs.  Wheatley,  and  several  young  aspirants  for 
Thespian  fame  who  afterward  became  bright  luminaries  in  the  theatrical 
armament.  It  was  at  the  Park  Theatre,  on  the  evening  of  November 
12,  182(5,  that  the  beautiful  domestic  drama  entitled  Clari,  the  Maid  of 
Milan,  written  by  our  countryman,  John  Howard  Payne,  was  first 
performed  in  America.  It  was  operatic  in  style,  and  contained  that 
pathetic  song,  "  Home,  Sweet  Home,"  which  gave  the  author  immor- 
tality in  the  world's  literature.    The  music  of  the  play  was  written  by 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


103 


Sir  Henry  Bishop,  who  composed  a  large  portion  of  the  music  for 
Moore's  Irish  melodies,  the  air  being  suggested  by  Payne  himself.* 

Near  the  close  of  the  Knickerbocker  era  the  Italian  opera  was 
first  introduced  into  New  York  by  Signor  Manuel  Garcia,  an  eminent 
tenor  from  Italy.  He  and  his  troupe  were  brought  to  this  country  by 
Dominick  Lynch,  a  wealthy  New  York  wine-merchant.  This  novel 
performance — novel  to  most  Americans — began  at  the  Park  Theatre 
on  the  29th  of  November,  1S25,  and  was  given  two  nights  in  each 
week  as  an  experiment.  The  opera  was  Rossini's  Ba/rher  of  Seville. 
The  leader  of  the  orchestra  was  De  Leon.  There  were  seven  violins, 
two  tenors,  two  basses,  three  violoncellos,  two  flutes,  two  clarinets, 
two  horns,  two  trumpets,  one  bassoon,  and  one  kettledrum.  The  cast 
was  as  follows  : 


Count  Alma  viva 
Doctoe  Baetolo 
Basilio  


 Signor  Garcia 

, . . .  .Signor  Rosich 
.  .Signor  Angrisani 
Babta  


Flobello   

Figaro  

ROSINA   

....  Signora  Garcia 


. . .  Signor  Crevilli 
Signor  Garcia,  Jr. 
.  .Signorini  Garcia 


The  house  was  thronged  in  every  part  with  the  most  brilliant  assem- 
blage ever  seen  in  an  American  theatre.  The  receipts  were  $2980. 
The  next  morning  one  of  the  city  newspapers  contained  the  following 
remarks  : 

"  The  repeated  plaudits  with  which  the  theatre  rung  were  unequivo- 
cal, unaffected  bursts  of  rapture.  The  signorini  [Garcia's  daughter] 
seems  to  us  a  being  of  a  new  creation.    .    .    .    The  best  compliment 

*  The  history  of  this  song  is  interesting.  At  about  1822  or  1823  Charles  Kemble,  then 
the  manager  of  Covent  Garden  Theatre,  London,  engaged  Payne,  then  in  Paris,  to  write 
a  play  for  him.  He  translated  the  play  of  Angioletta.  It  was  accepted  by  Kemble.  but  at 
that  juncture  it  was  brought  out  at  a  rival  theatre.  Thereupon  Payne  slightly  altered 
the  plot,  introduced  several  songs  and  duets  into  the  piece,  and  transformed  it  into  an 
opera  under  the  title  of  Clnri,  the  Maid  of  Milan.  The  song  of  <!  Home,  Sweet  Home' 
was  introduced  in  the  second  act,  and  was  sung  with  great  pathos  by  a  sister  of  Ellen 
Tree  (afterward  Mrs.  Charles  Kean)  as  Clari,  the  heroine  of  the  play.  The  opera,  first 
produced  in  May,  1823,  was  a  wonderful  success.  Payne  had  written  to  Bishop  from 
Paris  before  the  opera  was  produced  that  he  had  not  "  time  to  polish  the  songs,"  but 
thought  "'Home,  Sweet  Home,'  as  a  refrain,  would  come  in  nicely."  When  the  song 
was  published  one  hundred  thousand  copies  were  at  once  disposed  of,  and  the  profits  of 
the  publishers  two  years  afterward,  it  is  said,  amounted  to  $10,000.  In  these  profits 
Payne  did  not  share. 

John  Howard  Payne  was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York,  at  No.  33  Broad  Street,  near  the 
corner  of  Pearl  Street,  on  June  9,  1791.  He  was  a  precocious  youth,  and  inclined  toward 
the  stage.  His  father  tried  to  prevent  his  pursuing  this  inclination,  but  failed.  He 
began  his  dramatic  career  when  he  was  only  sixteen  years  of  age.  He  first  appeared  at 
the  Park  Theatre.    He  went  to  England,  where  he  obtained  the  title  cf  the  "American 


104 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


that  can  be  paid  to  the  company  was  the  unbroken  attention  that  was 
yielded  throughout  the  entire  performance,  except  that  it  was  now  and 
then  interrupted  by  judiciously  bestowed  marks  of  applause,  which  were 
simultaneously  given  from  all  parts  of  the  house." 

The  singing  of  Signorini  Garcia  produced  a  new  sensation  in  the 
city.  She  performed  at  the  Bowery  Theatre  (then  just  opened)  the 
next  year,  when  she  received  $10,000  for  seventeen  nights'  perform- 
ance. But  the  excitement  in  the  public  mind  was  only  temporary. 
The  attendance  fell  off,  and  at  the  end  of  two  years  the  troupe  aban- 
doned the  enterprise  and  returned  to  Europe.    In  1832  Dunlap  wrote  : 

"  We  doubt  not  but  those  patriots  [citizens  who  had  been  active  in 
procuring  the  presence  of  the  troupe]  who  introduced  the  Italian  opera 
into  America  will  be  immortalized  in  the  history  of  the  march  of  mind." 

Garcia 's  was  a  florid  style  of  singing.  His  voice  was  exquisite,  and 
he  gave  unbounded  pleasure.  Angrisani's  bass  was  deemed  almost 
miraculous.    It  was  unequalled  in  depth  and  sweetness. 

Garcia's  daughter,  Signorini  Maria  Felicite,  was  a  marvellous 
singer.  Her  voice  was  what  the  Italians  call  a  contralto.  In  person 
she  was  about  the  middle  height,  plump,  eyes  dark  and  expressive,  and 
a  sweet  smile  was  almost  constantly  upon  her  lips  and  in  her  eyes.  In 
March,  1*2(5,  while  at  the  height  of  her  brilliant  career,  she  married 
Eugene  Malihran,  an  aged  and  wealthy  French  merchant  of  New 
York,  and  expected  to  retire  from  the  stage.  In  this  matter  she  had 
yielded  her  own  inclinations  to  the  will  and  commands  of  her  father. 
The  brilliant  vision  of  wealth  that  dazzled  the  eyes  of  Garcia  were  illu- 
sory. Misfortune  overtook  Malihran.  He  became  a  bankrupt,  and  she 
was  compelled  to  resume  her  profession  for  her  own  support.  She 
sang  in  old  (Trace  Church,  on  the  corner  of  Broadway  and  Thames 
Street,  on  Sundays.  Early  in  1827  she  appeared  at  the  Bowery  Theatre, 
and  in  October  of  the  same  year  she  bade  farewell  to  the  American 
stage  as  the  Princess  of  Navarre  in  John  of  JParis.    In  November  she 

Roscius."  He  was  cordially  greeted  in  Paris  by  the  great  tragedian  Talma.  For  nearly 
twenty  years  lie  pursued  a  career  of  varied  success  as  actor,  playwright,  and  manager, 
and  returned  to  the  United  States  in  1832.  In  1841  he  was  appointed  American  Consul 
at  Tunis,  where  he  died  April  9,  1852.  At  the  suggestion  and  at  the  expense  of  W.  W. 
Corcoran,  of  Washington,  his  remains  were  brought  to  the  United  States,  and  received 
with  public  honors  at  his  native  city,  on  March  22,  1883.  Thence  they  were  conveyed  to 
Washington  and  interred  in  Oak  Hill  Cemetery,  Georgetown,  District  of  Columbia.  The 
tombstone,  of  white  Italian  marble,  which  was  originally  placed  at  the  head  of  his  grave 
in  a  cemetery  at  Tunis,  bearing  the  erroneous  inscription,  "  He  died  at  the  American 
Consulate,  in  this  city  [Tunis],  April  1,  1852.  He  was  born  in  the  city  of  Boston,  State 
of  Massachusetts,  June  the  8th,  1792,"  was  also  set  up  at  the  place  of  his  new  interment. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


105 


sailed  for  Europe,  sang  with  great  applause  in  London  and  Paris,  and 
from  that  time  remained  the  unrivalled  Queen  of  Song.  As  Madame 
Malibran  she  filled  all  Europe  with  her  admirers.  She  had  procured  a, 
divorce  from  her  husband  soon  after  her  return  to  Europe,  and  bestowed 
her  hand  upon  the  man  of  her  choice,  De  Beriot,  the  celebrated  vocal- 
ist ;  but  she  ever  afterward  retained  the  name  of  Malibran  profession- 
ally. She  died  of  a  nervous  fever  at  Manchester,  England,  when  she 
was  only  twenty-eight  years  of  age."x'  Her  generosity  was  unbounded. 
.V  greater  part  of  her  enormous  earnings  were  lavished  on  her  relatives 
and  various  objects  of  charity. 

The  favorite  drives  into  the  country  for  sporting  characters  and 
fashionable  young  men  half  a  century  ago  was  to  Burnham's,  on  the 
Hudson  "River  side  of  the  city,  and  to  Cato's,  on  the  East  River  side. 
To  those  citizens  who  indulged  in  long  walks,  a  stroll  out  to  Corporal 
Thompson's  cottage,  which  stood  on  the  site  of  the  Fifth  Avenue 
Hotel,  was  a  favorite  resort.  There  the  young  men  returning  from  the 
more  distant  points  of  a  drive  usually  stopped  and  enjoyed  rollicking 
tun.  sometimes  until  late  in  the  evening,  when  they  were  compelled  to 
grope  their  way  slowly  along  the  dark  road  that  led  into  the  city. 

Thompson's  was  a  diminutive  tavern.  It  was  a  cottage  built  by  Mr. 
Milderberger,  a  leather-merchant  in  Vandewater  Street,  for  a  country 
residence.  He  had  bought  several  acres  of  ground  near  the  junction  of 
Broadway  and  Fifth  Avenue  for  the  purpose.  He  afterward  built 
himself  a  line  brick  mansion  on  the  south-west  corner  of  Fifth  Avenue 
and  Twenty-third  Street,  and  rented  the  cottage  to  Thompson.  When 
the  streets  about  Madison  Square  were  graded,  Corporal  Thompson's 
little  yellow  tavern  remained  standing  upon  a  bank  several  feet  above 
the  general  level,  as  long  as  possible. 

( 'ato's  was  the  special  favorite  resort  of  young  characters  now  known 
as  "fast"  young  men.  His  place  was  not  far  from  the  old  Beekman 
mansion,  near  Turtle  Bay,  on  the  East  River.  It  was  in  a  shaded 
lane  running  east  from  Third  Avenue  (then  a  famous  trotting  road), 
about  three  fourths  of  a  mile  to  the  East  River,  near  the  lofty  shot- 
tower.  Cato  was  black — very  black.  He  had  been  a  slave.  Inter- 
course Avith  white  people  and  his  natural  bent  made  him  a  gentleman, 
and  he  was  greatly  respected  by  all  who  came  in  contact  with  him.  He 
kept  the  choicest  liquors  and  cigars,  and  his  barroom  and  small  sitting- 
room  adjoining  were  models  of  neatness.  Cato  sold  real  cigars  "  five 
for  a  shilling,"  and  pure  brandy  "  sixpence  a  glass."    He  was  always 


*  See  "  Records  of  the  New  York  Stage,"  by  Joseph  N.  Ireland. 


106 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


polite,  kind-hearted,  and  obliging — too  obliging  sometimes  for  his 
own  interest,  for  some  of  his  "  fast  "  customers,  scions  of  wealthy 
families,  borrowed  considerable  sums  of  money  of  him,  and  forgot  to 
refund. 

The  Hazard  House,  on  Yorkville  Hill,  through  which  the  railway 
tunnel  was  pierced  many  years  ago,  was  another  famous  stopping-place 
in  the  rural  regions  of  Manhattan  Island  fifty  or  sixty  years  ago  ;  but 
a  place  more  famous  than  all,  and  near  the  northern  limit  of  the 
"  drives,*'  was  the  Red  House,  on  the  verge  of  Harlem  Plains.  It  had 
been  the  mansion  of  the  McGowan  family.  It  was  reached  by  a 
shaded  lane  at  about  One  Hundredth  Street,  running  westward  from 
Third  Avenue  (the  first  cut  through  to  Harlem  River). 

The  Red  House  was  a  spacious  residence  surrounded  by  several  acres 
of  ground,  in  which  was  a  well-kept  half-mile  trotting-course.  It  was 
a  place  of  great  resort  for  the  owners  of  fast  trotting  horses.  There 
might  have  been  seen,  almost  any  fine  day,  a  peculiar  person  well 
known  in  the  city  about  fifty  years  ago.  It  was  Henry  Carroll  Marx, 
of  Hebrew  descent.  He  was  a  man  of  much  intellectual  force  and  fine 
accomplishments,  but  because  of  his  peculiar  style  of  dress  and  deport- 
ment was  styled  "  Dandy  Marx,1'  the  representative  of  the  New  York 
"  exquisite,"  who  was  generally  accounted  as  lacking  common-sense — 
a  class  which  passed  away  many  years  ago,  but  has  been  replaced  in 
our  day  by  a  more  silly  class  called  "  dudes." 

Marx  lived  a  bachelor,  with  his  mother  and  sisters,  at  073  Broadway. 
They  possessed  an  ample1  fortune.  Mr.  Marx  affected  the  European  style 
in  everything — dress,  equipage,  and  speech.  He  wore  a  carefully 
waxed  mustache,  such  as  was  seen  on  the  lip  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon 
III.  in  after  years,  and  this  was  an  abomination  to  the  Knicker- 
bockers. His  style  of  dress  was  English  in  the  extreme.  His  speech 
had  the  peculiar  drawl  of  the  London  cockney,  and  his  dogs  and  horses 
were  of  the  best  blood.  Marx  was  reticent,  seldom  mingled  in  social 
life  in  the  city,  dressed  his  servants  in  livery,  had  a  variety  of  car- 
riages of  English  styles,  drove  a  splendid  team  of  horses — sometimes 
four-in-hand,  and  was  seldom  accompanied  by  any  one  but  his  sister, 
who  was  a  very  expert  horsewoman.  All  the  fashionable  tailors  in  the 
city  were  anxious  to  have  their  handiwork  displayed  on  the  person  of 
"Dandy  Marx." 

Mr.  Marx  was  not  at  all  effeminate.  Whatever  he  undertook  he 
persisted  in  with  extraordinary  perseverance.  He  joined  a  fire  hose 
company.  One  night,  while  at  an  entertainment  at  Niblo's,  there  was 
an  alarm  of  fire.    Marx  rushed  to  the  hose-house  in  patent-leather 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


107 


boots,  white  kid  gloves,  and  dressed  in  the  extreme  of  fashion.  It  had 
rained  heavily,  and  the  streets  were  filled  with  mud.  lie  seized  the 
ropes,  ran  "  with  the  machine"  from  Mercer  to  Broad  Street,  and 
worked  as  hard  as  any  one  in  extinguishing  the  fire.  His  costume  was 
ruined,  but  he  had  done  his  duty  faithfully.  At  the  cost  of  thousands 
of  dollars  he  got  up  the  famous  Hussar  regiment,  one  of  the  most 
attractive  military  corps  in  the  city.  To  prepare  himself  for  the  com- 
mand he  went  to  Canada,  mixed  with  the  cavalry  corps  then  in  the 
service  of  young  Queen  Victoria,  studied  their  tactics  for  several  months, 
and  so  secured  success. 

Wall  Street,  at  the  closing  period  of  Knickerbocker  life  in  New  York, 
was  not  the  seething  caldron  of  stock-gambling  and  the  arena  of 
financial  bull-baiting  and  bear-fighting  it  is  now.  Although  Wall 
Street  in  1830  was  a  far-famed  mart  for  bankers,  brokers,  underwriters, 
and  stock-jobbers,  and  the  focal  point  of  commercial  enterprise,  where 
speculation  of  every  kind  was  planned  and  executed,  and  for  five  hours 
each  day  was  a  scene  of  hurry  and  bustle  and  anxiety  nowhere  else  to 
be  seen  on  the  continent  exhibited  in  such  a  degree,  it  was  a  quiet, 
sober  street  compared  with  Wall  Street  since  the  Civil  War.  There  a 
few  private  dwellings  yet  lingered,  and  several  kinds  of  business  beside 
monetary  affaire  were  carried  on. 

Let  us  stand  at  the  head  of  Wall  Street,  in  front  of  Trinity  Church, 
and  take  a  glance  at  that  famous  thoroughfare  from  Broad  Street 
toward  the  East  River.  On  the  right  you  see  a  neat  white  marble 
building,  the  front  like  a  Grecian  temple.  That  is  the  Phoenix  Bank. 
The  stately  building  of  granite,  with  a  towering  dome  and  short  spire,  in 
the  middle  distance,  is  the  Merchants'  Exchange,  completed  in  1827. 
Between  the  Phoenix  Bank  and  William  Street  you  see  three  brick 
buildings,  three  stories  in  height.  They  are  occupied  by  the  Manhat- 
tan Fire  Insurance  Company,  Peter  Mesier's  spacious  bookstore  (for 
the  time),  S.  W.  Benedict's  watch  and  jewelry  establishment,  and  the 
exchange  office  of  R.  L.  Xevins.  The  families  of  Mesier,  Benedict, 
and  Xevins  live  in  the  apartments  above. 

You  see  the  large  building  on  the  next  corner.  There  Mapes  & 
Waldron  (the  former  the  father  of  the  late  Professor  Mapes)  had  their 
establishment  as  merchant  tailors,  but  it  is  now  the  office  of  the  New 
York  American  Advocate  ;  and  between  that  and  the  offices  of  the 
Standard  and  American  you  see  the  offices  of  three  fire-insurance  com- 
panies. Next  to  the  Exchange  is  a  small  confectionery  shop  ;  and 
below  the  Exchange,  on  the  corner  of  Hanover  Street,  are  the  offices  of 
the  Atlantic  and  other  fire-insurance  companies.    At  the  foot  of  the 


108 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


street,  ending  at  the  East  River,  you  see  the  shipping-  in  Coffee-IIouse 
Slip. 

On  the  left  side  of  the  street  the  Tontine  Coffee-IIouse  looms  up,  at 
the  corner  of  Pearl  Street,  and  as  your  eye  passes  westward  you  per- 
ceive bank  buildings,  insurance  offices,  and  the  place  of  business  of  the 
Morris  Canal  Company.  But  nearly  all  the  banks  and  insurance  com- 
panies then  in  the  city  could  now  be  accommodated  in  one  of  the  mod- 
ern edifices  in  New  York. 

At  that  period,  and  even  so  early  as  when  Ilalleck  wrote  of  the 
father  of  his  "  Fanny,"  Wall  Street  seems  to  have  had  some  features 
of  its  ethics  to-day.    The  poet  wrote  : 

"  For  Rumor  (she's  a  famous  liar  yet — 

'Tis  wonderful  how  easy  we  believe  her  !) 
Had  whispered  he  was  rich,  and  all  he  met 

In  Wall  Street  nodded,  smiled,  and  tipped  the  beaver  : 
All  from  Mr.  Gelston,  the  collector, 
Down  to  the  broker  and  the  bank  director. 

"  A  few  brief  years  passed  over,  and  his  rank 

Among  the  worthies  of  that  street  was  fix'd  ; 
He  had  become  director  of  a  bank 

And  six  insurance  offices,  and  niix'd 
Familiarly,  as  one  among  his  peers, 
With  grocers,  dry-goods  merchants,  auctioneers, 

"  Brokers  of  all  grades  — stock  and  pawn — and  Jews  s 

Of  all  religions,  who,  at  noonday,  form, 
On  'Change,  that  brotherhood  my  moral  muse 

Delights  in.  when  the  heart  is  pure  and  warm, 
And  each  exerts  his  intellectual  force 
To  cheat  his  neighbor— honestly,  of  course." 

At  the  period  we  are  considering  transactions  in  securities  were  few 
and  insignificant,  mainly  for  investment.  The  greed  for  specula- 
tion," says  Mr.  Dayton.  "  had  not  tainted  the  plodding  habits  of  busi- 
ness men,  wrapped  up  as  they  Avere  in  their  peculiar  calling,  satisfied 
with  limited  credit,  and  contented  with  moderate  gains.  The  railway 
and  mining  mania  was  unborn.  The  stocks  and  mortgage  bonds, 
which  now  form  the  staple  of  the  gigantic  operations  which  daily,  nay 
hourly,  make  and  unmake  scores  of  desperate  speculators,  were  not  in 
existence  ;  they  had  not  drawn  into  the  seething  caldron  of  Wall 
Street  wealth  from  every  corner  of  the  civilized  globe.  .  .  .  Thou- 
sands of  well-to-do  men  lived  and  died  without  ever  puzzling  their 
brains  about  the  ups  and  downs  of  the  stock  list." 


CHAPTER  IV. 


BEFORE  the  year  1830  New  York  had  acquired  the  character  of 
being  the  leading  city  in  the  Republic  in  all  that  constitutes 
desirable  metropolitan  life.    Hardie  wrote  in  1827  : 

"  The  city  of  New  York,  from  its  rapid  growth,  commercial  charac- 
ter, and  unrivalled  prosperity,  has  justly  been  called  the  London  of 
America.  Put  it  is  now  high  time  to  change  the  appellation.  The 
extensive  patronage  extended  to  the  liberal  arts  and  works  of  taste,  the 
unexampled  increase  of  public  amusements,  with  the  consequent  prog- 
ress of  morals  and  refinement,  have  at  length  rendered  New  York  the 
Paris  of  America.  Like  that  gay  and  splendid  emporium  of  fashion 
and  literature,  New  York  is  constantly  filled  with  strangers,  who  are 
drawn  hither  by  the  celebrity  of  our  institutions,  our  commerce,  opu- 
lence, and  multiplied  sources  of  rational  pleasure.  Our  fame  in  these 
respects  has  gone  abroad  to  the  remotest  corners  of  the  Western  hemi- 
sphere, and  is  rapidly  spreading  through  every  part  of  Christendom."  * 
The  staid  inhabitants  of  New  York,  especially  the  Knickerbocker 
element,  may  not  have  considered  every  point  of  this  view  as  compli- 
mentary to  the  city,  yet  it  was  undoubtedly  true.  Society  in  almost 
every  feature  was  changing  its  tone  and  hue  in  many  things,  from 
causes  already  alluded  to.  Existing  institutions — benevolent,  charitable, 
scientific,  literary,  artistic,  and  religious — were  feeling  the  electric  thrill 
of  new  life,  and  in  this  inspiration  commerce  and  manufactures,  and  all 
the  varied  industrial  interests  of  the  rapidly  growing  city,  participated. 
Let  us  briefly  consider  the  public  institutions  in  the  city  of  New  York 
which  were  in  existence  in  the  half  decade  before  the  year  1830. 

Those  institutions  which  most  largely  minister  to  the  physical  well- 
being  of  society  are  regarded  as  most  worthy  earliest  and  grateful 
recognition.  To  provide  for  the  wants  of  the  poor  and  destitute,  who 
suffer  most  from  misfortunes,  accidents,  and  diseases,  is  the  prime  object 
of  a  larger  portion  of  the  public  benevolent  institutions  of  the  city. 
The  hospital  is  the  rich  fruit  of  the  teachings  of  Jesus  the  Christ. 


*  "  The  Description  of  the  City  of  New  York,"  by  James  Hardie,  A.M.,  p.  339. 


no 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


II is  great  lesson  of  the  Good  Samaritan  prefigured  the  divine  mission  of 
the  hospital,  the  influence  of  which  is  permeating  human  society  every- 
where. 

The  pagan  nations  looked  with  contempt  upon  physical  weakness, 
and  made  no  provision  for  the  care  of  the  wounded,  the  sick,  and  the 
infirm.  "With  the  dawn  of  the  new  era  hegan  the  practical  observance 
of  the  Golden  Rule,  and  provision  for  the  weary  and  worn  first  ap- 
peared as  places  of  refreshment  for  travellers.  These  finally  hecame 
transformed  into  refuges  for  invalids. 

At  the  period  we  are  considering,  the  city  of  New  York  was 
provided  with  two  hospitals  (the  City  Hospital  and  the  Bellevue  Alms- 
house and  Asylum)  ;  also  a  city  dispensary,  an  asylum  for  the  insane, 
an  eve  infirmary,  a  lying-in  hospital,  an  institution  for  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  deaf  and  dumb,  so  called,  and  several  minor  charitable 
associations.  These  institutions — those  fountains  of  untold  blessings — 
are  all  in  active  operation  now  in  the  midst  of  scores  of  others  engaged 
in  the  same  holy  cause. 

Tin;  Xkw  York  City  Hospital  was  the  generous  offspring  of  the 
active  brain  and  sympathetic  heart  of  Dr.  John  Bard,*  an  eminent 
New  York  physician.  At  the  first  medical  graduation  at  King's  (now 
Columbia)  College  in  the  city  of  New  York,  in  May.  17<>!»,  Dr.  Bard 
delivered  an  address,  in  which  he  so  pathetically  and  earnestly  set 
forth  the  necessity  and  utility  of  a  public  infirmary  that  Sir  Henry 
.Moore,  then  governor  of  the  province,  who  was  present,  immediately 
started  a  subscription  for  that  purpose,  to  which  he  and  most  of  the 
gentlemen  present  liberally  contributed.  The  sum  of  S:5.">0<)  was  soon 
obtained,  and  the  governor  (who  died  the  next  autumn)  warmly  urged 
the  Provincial  Assembly  to  render  the  proposed  institution  liberal 
pecuniary  aid.  The  corporation  of  the  city  soon  afterward  appropri- 
ated si."), ~)7y>.    Contributions  were  also  received  from  London  and 

*  John  Bard,  M.D.,  an  eminent  physician,  was  born  at  Burlington,  N.  J.,  in  February, 
1710.  His  family  was  of  the  Huguenot  refugees  who  fled  from  persecution  in  France. 
His  father  was  a  privy  councillor  and  judge  in  New  Jersey.  John  was  educated  in  Phil- 
adelphia, where  he  was  a  surgeon's  apprentice  seven  years,  and  formed  a  lasting  friend- 
ship with  Dr.  Franklin.  Bard  established  himself  as  a  physician  in  New  York  in  1746. 
and  very  soon  took  a  front  rank  in  the  profession.  In  1750  he  assisted  Dr.  Middleton  in 
the  first  recorded  dissection  of  the  human  body  in  America.  During  a  portion  of  the 
British  occupation  of  New  York  he  withdrew  from  the  city,  but  returned  after  the  Revo- 
lution. Bard  was  the  first  president  of  the  New  York  Medical  Society  in  1788.  When, 
in  1795,  yellow  fever  raged  in  New  York,  Bard,  though  eighty  years  of  age,  remained 
at  his  post.  He  gave  up  practice  in  1798,  and  died  at  his  country-seat  at  Hyde  Park, 
Dutchess  County,  N.  Y.,  in  March,  1799. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


HI 


other  parts  of  Great  Britain,  on  the  earnest  solicitations  of  Drs.  Fother- 
irill  and  Sir  "William  Duncan. 

The  following  year  (1770)  Drs.  Bard,  Middleton,  and  Jones  peti- 
tioned Lieutenant-Governor  Colden  to  grant  a  charter  for  a  hospital. 
This  was  done  the  following  year  by  Lord  Dunmore,  then  governor  of 
the  province.  That  charter,  dated  June  13,  1771,  bears  the  names  of 
the  mayor  of  !New  York,  the  recorder,  aldermen  and  assistants,  the 
rector  of  Trinity  Church,  one  minister  of  each  religious  denomination 
in  the  city,  the  president  of  King's  (now  Columbia)  College,  and  a 
number  of  the  most  respectable  citizens  as  members.  They  were 
incorporated  with  the  title  of  Tlte  Society  of  the  Hospital  in  the  City 
of  Nt  to  York,  in  America.  This  title  was  altered  by  the  Legislature, 
in  March,  1S10,  to  that  of  The  Society  of  the  Mew  York  Hospital.* 

The  charter  limited  the  number  of  governors  to  twenty-six.  In  1772 
the  Legislature  granted  the  institution  an  annuity  of  82000  for  twenty 
years,  and  the  building  was  soon  afterward  begun  on  five  acres  of 
ground  on  the  west  side  of  Broadway,  between  (present)  Duane  and 
"Worth  streets,  which  the  governors  had  purchased.  The  corner-stone 
was  laid  on  July  27,  1773.  Just  as  the  building  was  completed,  a  fire 
accidentally  lighted  laid  the  most  of  it  in  ashes.  That  was  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1775.  It  inflicted  upon  the  society  a  loss  of  $17,500.  The 
Legislature  generously  came  to  their  relief,  and  gave  the  governors 
$10,000  toward  repairing  their  loss. 

Another  and  more  discouraging  calamity  now  fell  upon  the  institu- 
tion. The  war  for  independence  began,  and  filled  the  land  with  con- 
fusion. The  repairs  of  the  building  were  nearly  completed,  when  it 
was  required  for  the  use  of  sick  and  wounded  Continental  soldiers. 
When  the  British  took  possession  of  the  city,  in  177<>,  their  troops  oc- 
cupied it  for  the  same  purpose,  and  wounded  British  and  Hessian  sol- 
diers tilled  it. 

It  was  over  four  years  after  the  British  forces  left  the  city,  in  1783, 
before  the  society  were  able  to  resume  work  on  the  building.  The 
Legislature  of  the  State  of  Xew  York  directed  (March  1.  1788)  $2000 
annually  to  be  given  them  for  four  years,  but  such  was  the  dreadful 
state  of  affairs  in  the  city  for  several  years  after  the  war  that  the 
building  was  not  ready  to  receive  patients  until  1791. 

In  1792  the  Legislature  granted  the  hospital  $5000  a  year  for  five 
years.    This  act  was  suspended,  in  1795,  by  another  granting  $10,000 

♦The  first  hospital  on  Manhattan  Island  was  established  by  the  Dutch.  It  had  the 
capacity,  it  is  said,  of  "five  houses,"  and  stood  near  the  fort,  at  the  southern  extremity 
of  the  island.    It  was  demolished  after  the  English  took  possession  of  the  country. 


112 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


a  year  for  five  years.  In  1705  an  additional  grant  of  $2500  a  year 
was  made,  making  the  whole  annual  sum  $12,500. 

The  governors  now  appropriated  the  sum  of  $500  for  the  founding  of 
a  medical  library  for  the  use  of  the  hospital.  To  this  generous  dona- 
tions were  made,  and  in  1S30  the  library  contained  over  six  thousand 
volumes.  The  hospital  continually  enjoyed  the  bounty  of  the  State 
Legislature  and  of  the  citizens  of  New  York. 

In  the  year  1808  the  first  building  ever  devoted  to  the  care  of  the 
insane  in  the  State  of  New  York  was  erected  on  the  hospital  grounds, 
and  opened  with  sixty-seven  patients.  For  the  accommodation  of  the 
increasing  number  of  such  patients,  a  new  asylum  was  established  at 
Blooniingdale,  a  remote  suburb  of  the  city,  in  1821.  Then  the  old 
quarters  were  remodelled  as  a  hospital  for  seamen,  and  called  the 
"  Marine  Building,"  and  in  1S25  it  was  devoted  exclusively  to  their 
use.  It  was  so  occupied  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  when  it  was 
demolished,  and  a  more  commodious  building  was  erected  on  its  site, 
and  first  occupied  by  them  in  1  *">">.  The  Marine  Building,  which  had 
been  furnished  with  wings,  had  also  been  remodelled,  and  was  much 
improved  in  1850. 

At  an  early  date  in  its  history  the  hospital  became  known  at  home 
and  abroad  as  an  almost  unrivalled  school  for  teaching  the  practice  of 
medicine  and  surgery.  In  his  history  of  the  institution,  published  in 
1S")<»,  Gillian  C.  Yerplanck,  who  had  served  as  one  of  its  governors 
thirty-live  years,  said  :  "  The  New  York  Hospital  has  now  become  the 
most  extensive  school  of  practice  in  the  country." 

The  annual  grants  of  the  State  Legislature  had  been  increased  to  the 
sum  of  *22,ooo.  The  term  of  this  grant  expired  in  1S55,  and  was  not 
renewed,  yet  some  aid  was  given  to  the  hospital  by  the  Legislature 
from  time  to  time.  Owing  to  various  causes  the  institution  became 
crippled  with  debt  during  the  Civil  War,  notwithstanding  the  gov- 
ernors had  paid  out  of  their  own  pockets  $72,000  to  support  its  vitality. 
They  were  compelled  to  restrict  the  admission  of  charity  patients. 
That  service  was  supplemented,  in  a  degree,  by  Bellevue,  and  by  other 
institutions  which  had  sprung  up. 

An  attempt  was  made  to  relieve  the  society  of  debt,  but  failed,  and 
in  1808  it  was  resolved  to  lease  the  whole  or  a  part  of  the  Broadway 
lots.  This  proved  to  be  a  fortunate  measure,  for  the  property  finally 
yielded  an  annual  income  of  §150,000,  which  was  allowed  to  accumu- 
late. The  modest  old  building  of  gray  stone,  its  green  lawn  shaded 
with  stately  elm  trees,  was  demolished  in  1800,  and  commercial  estab- 
lishments soon  occupied  the  space. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


113 


Resolved  to  establish  a  hospital  within  the  city  limits,  the  governors 
purchased  lots  on  "West  Fifteenth  and  Sixteenth  streets  in  1874,  and 
the  next  year  the  governors  resumed  charitable  work  by  opening  a 
House  of  Relief  on  Chambers  Street,  to  which  place  the  library  was 
then  removed.  The  new  building  was  begun  in  the  spring  of  1S75, 
and  was  completed  and  formally  opened  in  March,  1877. 

The  hospital  building  is  probably  the  most  luxurious  and  best 
equipped  in  the  world.  It  is  seven  stories  in  height,  including  the 
basement  ;  has  a  frontage  on  Fifteenth  Street  of  one  hundred  and 
seventy-five  feet,  and  a  Mansard  roof  ;  extends  through  the  block  to 
Sixteenth  Street,  and  is  heated  and  ventilated  scientihcallv.  The 
front  of  the  hospital  faces  the  south,  admitting  the  full  I i *»T i t  of  the  sun 
through  its  numerous  and  generous  windows.  Two  steam  elevators 
give  ease  to  the  internal  travellers  from  basement  to  roof,  and  it  has  a 
capacity  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-three  beds,  exclusive  of  the  chil- 
dren's wards. 

At  the  top  of  the  building  is  a  spacious  hall,  separated  from  the  sky 
only  by  a  translucent  canopy  of  glass.  This  room  is  sixty-four  feet  in 
width,  ninety  feet  in  length,  and  of  an  average  height  of  eighteen  feet. 
There  the  convalescents  may  enjoy  an  invigorating  sun-bath,  in  a 
temperature  of  summer  heat  or  upward,  at  any  season  of  the  year. 
The  room  is  furnished  with  native  and  exotic  shrubs  and  flowering 
plants,  little  gurgling  fountains,  and  curious  aquariums  with  salt  and 
fresh  water.  In  this  Elysium  the  poorest  patient  may  enjoy  luxuries 
seldom  vouchsafed  to  the  rich. 

The  number  of  patients  treated  in  the  hospital  during  1882  was  3083. 
The  number  treated  in  the  House  of  Relief,  or  Chambers  Street  Hos- 
pital, the  same  year,  was  182S.  The  number  of  out-patients  treated 
by  the  hospital  staff  was  441>!),  and  the  number  of  visits  was  25,718. 
In  the  corresponding  department  at  the  House  of  Relief  the  number  of 
patients  treated  was  '.tC>59. 

These  statistics  show  the  immense  benefits  bestowed  upon  the  poor 
and  unfortunate  by  the  New  York  Hospital  and  its  annex,  the  House 
of  Relief  in  Chambers  Street. 

Tm:  Bloomixgdalk  Asylum  for  the  Insajsje  was  opened  for  the 
reception  of  patients  in  June,  1821.  It  was  the  result  of  a  communica- 
tion to  the  governors  of  the  New  York  Hospital  by  Thomas  Eddy,  a 
well-known  philanthropist,  in  April,  1815,  in  which  he  set  forth  the 
advantages  of  moral  treatment  for  the  insane  patients  in  that  institu- 
tion, and  proposing  that  a  number  of  acres  near  the  city  should  be 
purchased  and  suitable  buildings  be  erected  for  the  purpose.    The  gov- 


1  u 


HISTORY"  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


ernors  acted  promptly  on  the  suggestion,  and  the  Legislature  of  Xew 
York  granted  the  hospital  an  additional  sum  of  $10,000  a  year  until 
1857.  The  governors  first  bought  a  little  more  than  seven  acres  front- 
ing on  the  Bloomingdale  Road  (now  One  Hundred  and  Seventeenth 
Street,  between  Tenth  and  Eleventh  avenues),  seven  miles  north-west 
of  the  City  Hall.  It  is  on  elevated  ground,  commanding  beautiful  and 
extensive  views  in  every  direction,  and  the  buildings  are  about  a 
fourth  of  a  mile  from  the  Hudson  River,  which  it  overlooks.  More 
ground  was  purchased,  and  the  domain  now  includes  between  forty  and 
fifty  acres.  The  farm  is  highly  cultivated,  chiefly  for  the  production 
of  vegetables  and  hay,  and  also  ornamental  shrubbery.  It  has  many 
noble  shade-trees. 

The  corner-stone  of  the  Bloomingdale  Asylum  was  laid  May  T,  1818, 
and  the  main  building  was  completed  in  1821,  after  designs  by  Thomas 
C.  Taylor.    Extensive  additions  have  since  been  made. 

The  system  of  moral  treatment  of  the  insane  has  ever  been  pursued 
with  great  success  in  the  Bloomingdale  Asylum.  The  patients  are 
arranged  in  classes  according  to  the  form  which  their  mental  ailments 
have  assumed,  whether  mania,  monomania,  dementia,  idiotism,  or 
delirium  a  potu.  Harsh  treatment  and  all  needless  restraint  are 
avoided,  and  even  confinement  to  the  rooms  is  seldom  resorted  to. 
Many  patients  are  allowed  to  work  on  the  farm  or  in  the  garden,  are 
taken  out  to  ride,  and  permitted  to  participate  in  social  enjoyments. 
There  is  a  library  of  several  hundred  volumes,  an  ample  supply  of 
magazines  and  newspapers,  and  the  patients  are  diverted  by  lectures 
illustrated  by  the  magic  lantern,  and  other  entertainments. 

The  estate  and  all  its  interests  are  under  the  care  of  six  of  the  gov- 
ernors. A  warden  and  matron  have  charge  of  the  household  depart- 
ment. Xone  but  pay  patients  are  admitted,  unless  by  express  direction 
of  the  board  of  governors.  According  to  the  annual  report  of  the 
Bloomingdale  Asylum  for  1882,  the  whole  number  of  patients  admitted 
since  the  spring  of  1*21  was  7500  ;  whole  number  discharged  and  died, 
7277  :  whole  number  recovered,  3121  ;  whole  number  unproved,  1869  ; 
whole  number  not  improved,  1271  ;  whole  number  died,  1008.  The 
greatest  average  number  in  the  institution  during  one  year  was  233  (in 
1882),  and  the  greatest  number  of  recoveries  was  46  (in  1881). 

At  this  time  (1883)  the  President  of  the  board  of  governors  of  the 
hospital  and  Bloomingdale  Asylum  is  William  H.  Macy  ;  vice-presi- 
dent, James  M.  Brown  :  treasurer,  George  Cabot  "Ward  ;  and  secre- 
tary, David  Colden  Murray. 

Bkllevlk  Hospital,  the  great  pauper  asylum  of  the  city  originally, 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


113 


owes  its  existence  chiefly  to  the  exertions  of  that  eminent  physician, 
Dr.  David  Hosack.  It  is  one  of  the  noblest  monuments  of  municipal 
benevolence  in  the  world.    The  story  of  its  origin  may  be  briefly  told. 

In  the  year  1820  Dr.  Hosack  was  the  resident  physician  of  the 
Health  Department  of  the  city,  and  in  that  capacity  he  had  been 
brought  into  contact  with  many  of  the  sick  poor,  whose  wretched  con- 
dition excited  his  warmest  sympathy  and  commiseration.  He  found 
several  sick  with  typhus  fever  crowded  in  small,  ill-ventilated  apart- 
ments, and  forming  nurseries  of  infectious  and  contagious  diseases.  At 
his  request  an  extraordinary  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Health  was 
called,  July  27,  1S2<>,  to  whom  he  made  a  statement  of  the  condition 
of  the  poor,  and  declared  that  humanity  to  the  indigent  as  well  as  care 
for  the  health  of  the  city  imperatively  required  that  some  provision 
should  be  made  for  the  removal  of  the  sick  poor  from  their  unhealthy 
dwellings  to  some  airy  and  well-ventilated  place.  At  a  subsequent 
meeting  a  committee,  of  which  Hosack  was  one,  was  appointed  to  take 
into  consideration  the  expediency  of  such  an  establishment,  and  to 
ascertain  where  a  proper  site  might  be  found.  A  ma  jority  of  the  com- 
mittee opposed  the  measure,  the  chief  objection  being  the  expense. 

Dr.  Hosack,  deeply  impressed  with  the  necessity  of  such  an  institu- 
tion, persevered.  In  the  ensuing  autumn  he  addressed  the  students  of 
the  Medical  Society,  in  the  presence  of  many  citizens  and  members  of 
the  Board  of  Health,  on  the  subject,  urging  the  necessity  of  a  fever 
hospital — a  place  where  contagious  fever  patients  might  be  received  and 
find  benefit.  The  lecture  was  published,  and  much  interest  was  excited 
in  the  public  mind.  But  apathy  succeeded,  and  it  was  not  until  yellow 
fever,  like  a  malignant  demon,  ravaged  the  city  in  1S22  that  the  city 
authorities  were  induced  to  approve  the  founding  of  a  fever  hospital. 
Stephen  Allen  was  then  mayor.  The  Legislature  was  appealed  to,  and 
granted  §25,000  for  the  purpose.  A  beautiful  and  salubrious  site  on 
the  banks  of  the  East  River  belon£rins>:  to  the  citv  was  selected,  and 
there  a  building  one  hundred  and  eighty  feet  long,  fifty  feet  wide 
(excepting  the  centre,  which  is  fifty-eight  feet),  and  four  stories  in 
height,  was  completed  in  1826.  It  was  built  of  blue-stone,  from  a 
quarry  on  the  premises.  This  building  was  dedicated  with  appropriate 
ceremonies  in  November,  1826.  It  has  since  been  extended  not  only 
on  the  front,  but  in  depth  of  wings,  and  is  now  three  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  in  length.    The  grounds  in  front  are  laid  out  in  beautiful  lawns.* 

*  David  Hosack,  M.D.,  LL.D.,  a  skilful  and  beneficent  physician  in  New  York  nearly 
forty  years,  was  born  in  that  city  in  August,  17C9.    He  was  a  son  of  a  Scotch  artillery 


116 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


This  institution  was  at  lirst  known  as  the  Bellevue  Almshouse.  In 
1S48  the  paupers  were  all  transferred  to  Blaekwell's  Island,  and  the 
whole  spacious  budding  was  appropriated  to  the  uses  of  a  hospital, 
with  ample  accommodations  for  twelve  hundred  patients.  It  has  eight 
hundred  beds.  This  hospital  is  a  department  of  the  City  Almshouse, 
and  is  under  the  charge  of  the  Commissioners  of  Public  Charities  and 
Correction.    Its  support  is  derived  from  the  city  treasury. 

Bellevue  Hospital  now  holds  a  front  rank  as  a  school  for  medical  and 
surgical  instruction,  and  the  number  in  daily  attendance  upon  the 
clinical  lectures,  admitted  free,  is  very  large. 

In  L866  two  new  features  were  added  to  Bellevue  Hospital,  namely: 
a  bureau  of  medical  and  surgical  relief  for  out-door  poor,  and  a  morgue, 
or  a  receptacle  for  the  unknown  dead.  Patients  who  arc  able  to  pay 
an1  admitted  at  the  maximum  charge  of  $3.50  a  week.  The  cost  of 
sustaining  the  institution  is  about  $100,000  a  year. 

Bellevue  Hospital  is  not  only  a  blessing  to  the  suffering  poor,  but  an 
efficient  agency  for  diffusing  widely  over  the  land  sound  and  scientific; 
medical  and  surgical  knowledge. 

The  New  York  City  Dibpknsaby  was  founded  in  1791.  At  a  meet- 
ing of  the  Medical  Society  of  the  City  of  New  York,  in  October,  1790,  a 
committee  was  appointed  to  digest  and  publish  a  plan  for  a  dispensary 
for  the  medical  relief  of  the  sick  poor,  and  to  make  an  offer  of  the  pro- 
fessional services  of  the  members  of  the  society  to  carry  it  into  effect. 
Kloquent  appeals  were;  made  to  the  public  through  the  city  newspapers, 
and  on  January  4,  1791,  there  was  a  meeting  of  a  number  of  respect- 
able citizens  at  the  City  Hall  convened  to  effect  an  organization.  It 
was  done,  and  Hon.  Isaac  Roosevelt  was  chosen  president,  and  Drs. 
Richard  Bay  ley  and  Samuel  Bard  were  chosen  senior  physicians.  The 
dispensary  was  then  established  on  Try  on  Street  (afterward  Tryon 
Row),  which  extended  along  the  north-eastern  side  of  the  City  Hall 
Park,  between  Chambers  and  Chatham  streets. 

officer  at  the  capture  of  Louisburg,  in  1758.  Ho  studied  medicine  and  surgery  with  Dr. 
Richard  Bayley,  and  completed  his  medical  education  under  the  most  distinguished  pro- 
fessors in  Edinburgh  and  London.  In  17'.)4  he  returned  to  America  with  the  first  collec- 
tion of  minerals  ever  seen  here  ;  also  a  collection  of  specimens  of  plants.  The  next 
vear  he  was  appointed  professor  of  botany  in  Columbia  College,  and  from  179(!  to  1800 
he  was  a  professional  partner  with  Dr.  Samuel  Bard.  In  1707  the  chair  of  materia 
medica  was  also  assigned  to  him,  which,  with  that  of  botany,  he  held  until  1807,  when  ho 
accepted  that  of  materia  medica  and  midwifery  in  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Sur- 
geons. Meanwhile  he  had  established  the  Elgin  Botanic  Garden  (the  second  founded  in 
the  United  States'),  noticed  in  a  future  chapter.  A  catalogue  of  the  plants  he  had  brought 
together  gave  him  a  high  position  as  a  botanist.    Dr.  Hosaek,  in  connection  with  his 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840.  117 

In  1790)  the  dispensary  was  incorporated  by  the  Legislature  of  New 
York.  In  1805  a  union  was  effected  between  the  dispensary  and  the 
"  Kinepox  Institution,"  which  had  been  established  three  years  pre- 
viously for  the  purpose  of  inoculating  or  vaccinating  the  poor  with 
cow-pox  instead  of  small-pox. 

In  1810  the  city  corporation  gave  the  dispensary  a  lot  of  land  on 
Tryon  Street,  afterward  Tryon  Row.  The  number  of  patients  so 
rapidly  increased  in  1S2S  (10,000  in  that  year)  that  the  trustees  were 
compelled  to  seek  larger  space.  They  procured  from  the  city  authori- 
ties the  gift  of  a  lot  at  the  corner  of  Centre  and  White  streets,  and 
there  was  erected  a  brick  building  three  stories  in  height,  which  was 
first  occupied  in  1829.  The  first  floor  was  used  by  the  dispensary  ;  the 
two  upper  floors  and  the  basement  were  rented  for  business  purposes. 
On  that  spot  is  still  (1888)  the  home  of  the  dispensary. 

During  the  first  year  of  the  occupancy  of  the  new  building  the  num- 
ber of  patients  treated  was  nearly  18,000.  The  medical  staff  consisted 
of  ten  attending  physicians  and  eight  consulting  physicians.  These 
uentlemen  were  faithful  and  self-sacrificing.  It  is  said  that  during  the 
cholera  season  of  1832  the  dispensary  physicians  "  were  found  in  every 
quarter  of  the  widely  extended  city,  breathing  the  atmosphere  of 
death,  and  stopping,  as  far  as  they  were  able,  the  ravages  of  the  all- 
devouring  element.'1' 

According  to  the  ninety-second  annual  report  of  the  Tsew  York 
Dispensary  (  January  I,  1SS2)  the  number  of  cases  treated  that  year 
was  25,171,  and  the  number  of  prescriptions  furnished  was  46,985. 
The  number  of  persons  treated  from  the  organization  of  the  dispensary 
to  January,  1882,  was  1,860,485. 

The  districts  of  the  dispensary  extend  on  the  north  to  Fourteenth 
Street,  on  the  north-west  to  Spring  Street  and  Broadway,  on  the  north- 
east to  First  Avenue,  Allen  and  Pike  streets,  and  on  the  east,  south, 
and  west  the  district  is  bordered  by  the  East  and  Hudson  rivers/' 

pupil.  Dr.  J.  W.  Francis,  conducted  the  American  Medical  and  Philosophical  Register  about 
four  years— 1810-14.  He  remained  a  member  of  the  faculty  of  the  College  of  Physicians 
and  Surgeons  until  1826,  when  with  Drs.  Macneven,  Mott,  Godman,  Francis,  and  Griscom. 
he  assisted  in  the  establishment  of  Rutgers  Medical  College  in  New  York,  and  retained 
bis  connection  with  it  until  its  demise,  in  1830.  He  filled  various  medical  offices  in 
bospitals,  asylums,  and  public  institutions  in  the  city  of  New  York  and  for  the  city  in 
general,  and  was  actively  engaged  in  literary  and  philosophical  institutions.  He  was 
one  of  the  originators  and  for  twelve  years  president  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society, 
and  was  a  fellow  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Great  Britain.  Dr.  Hosack  died  in  December. 
1835.    He  was  the  author  of  several  scientific  works  and  a  life  of  De  Witt  Clinton. 

*  The  presidents  of  the  New  York  Dispensary  from  its  organization  to  the  year  1882 


118 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


The  New  York  Asylum  for  (destitute)  Lying-in  "Women  was 
founded  in  1708,  after  the  city  had  heen  scourged  by  the  yellow  fever. 
In  October  of  that  year  Dr.  David  Hosack,  already  a  successful  young 
physician,  and  noted  for  his  benevolent  impulses,  started  a  subscription 
for  the  purpose,  and  soon  raised  the  sum  of  $5000.  An  appropriate 
building  was  procured  in  Cedar  Street,  and  there,  in  the  winter  of 
1798-99,  this  noble  charitv  was  inaugurated.  A  committee  of  manage- 
ment  was  appointed,  consisting  of  Thomas  Pearsall,  Robert  Lenox,  Dr. 
Hosack,  and  other  good  citizens.  It  was  agreed  that  every  person  who 
should  subscribe  820  should  have  the  privilege  of  recommending  a 
patient  for  the  institution,  if  approved  by  the  visiting  committee. 

The  asylum  was  incorporated  in  1700.  It  soon  became  evident  that 
the  interest  of  the  society's  fund  was  inadequate  to  meet  the  expenses 
of  the  establishment,  and  an  arrangement  was  made  with  the  New 
1  ork  Hospital  to  receive  that  interest,  on  condition  that  the  governors 
should  provide  a  lying-in  ward.  By  this  means  the  noble  charity  was 
perpetuated  until,  by  appropriations,  subscriptions,  and  bequests,  the 
institution  was  enabled  to  reorganize,  and  work  independent  of  the 
New  York  Hospital.  That  point  was  reached  in  1827,  when  it  secured 
a  charter  as  an  independent  institution.  It  is  now  in  the  eighty-first 
year  of  its  age,  though  it  is  only  fifty-six  years  since  it  became  an 
independent  association. 

This  institution  has  done  a  vast  amount  of  substantial  good  work, 
and  is  now  (1883)  as  active  and  benevolent  as  ever.  It  has  added  to  its 
regular  benefactions  instructions  in  practical  lying-in  nursing,  so  essen- 
tial for  every  midwife.  The  beneficiaries  are  of  various  nationalities. 
Of  those  cared  for  in  1883,  20  were  from  Ireland,  12  from  England, 
and  20  were  American  mothers.* 

Tin:  New  York  Institution  for  the  Instruction  ok  the  Deaf  and 
Dumb  dates  its  origin  from  the  later  months  of  the  year  181(5,  when  a 
few  benevolent  and  professional  citizens  matured  a  plan  of  such  an 
institution  and  proceeded  to  put  it  into  practical  operation.    The  most 

have  been  :  Tsaac  Roosevelt,  1701  ;  Rev.  John  Rodgers,  D.D.,  1794  ;  General  Matthew 
Clarkson,  1810  ;  John  Watts,  1821  ;  General  Edward  Laight,  1836  ;  George  T.  Trimble, 
185-2  :  James  T.  De  Peyster,  1801  :  Adam  Norrie,  1874  ;  William  M.  Halsted,  1882.  The 
officers  in  1882  were  .  Adam  Norrie,  president  :  Benjamin  H.  Field,  vice-president  ;  D. 
Golden  Hurray,  treasurer,  and  Robert  B.  Campbell,  secretary. 

*  The  officers  of  the  institution  for  1883  are  :  Mrs.  Thomas  Addis  Emmet  (the  first). 
Mrs.  Charles  A.  Morford,  Mrs.  Stephen  Tyng,  Mrs.  Beverly  Robinson,  Mrs.  Frederick 
Jones,  Mrs.  John  H.  Mortimer,  directresses  ;  Mrs.  J.  R.  Nevins,  treasurer  ;  Mrs.  Henry 
H.  Anderson,  secretary  ;  Mrs.  Hope,  matron  :  Stanton  Allen,  M.D.,  resident  physician. 
There  is  a  board  of  managers,  consisting  of  nineteen  ladies. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


119 


prominent  men  in  the  movement  were  Dr.  Samuel  L.  Mitchill,*  Rev. 
John  Stanford,  and  Dr.  Samuel  Akerly.  To  the  latter  gentleman  has 
been  awarded  the  credit  of  having  been  instrumental  in  the  first  estab- 
lishment of  two  of  the  noble  charities  of  New  York,  the  institutes  for 
the  benefit  of  the  deaf  and  dumb  and  blind. 

With  the  exception  of  the  abortive  attempt  of  one  of  the  Braidwood 
family,  of  England,  who  a  few  years  before  had  opened  a  school  for 
the  instruction  of  the  deaf  and  dumb  in  Xew  York,  this  movement  in 
isit;  was  the  first  effort  of  the  kind  in  that  city,  and  it  was  successful. 
There  was  not  at  that  time  a  single  school  for  the  deaf  and  dumb  in 
America. 

So  little  was  the  importance  and  necessity  of  an  institution  for  the 
instruction  of  the  deaf  and  dumb  appreciated  or  understood  in  the  city 
of  Xew  York,  that  it  was  supposed  the  school  which  was  about  to  be 
opened  in  Hartford  by  Messrs.  Gallaudet  and  Clerc,  who  had  lately 
returned  from  France,  would  be  large  enough  to  accommodate  all  the 
deaf-mute  pupils  in  America.  This  fallacy  was  soon  exposed  by  care- 
ful inquiry.    It  was  ascertained  that  at  that  very  time  there  were  more 

*  Samuel  Latham  Mitchill,  M.D.,  LL.D.,  was  a  very  prominent  citizen  of  New  York 
during  the  first  quarter  of  the  present  century,  as  a  scientist  and  an  active  participant  in 
every  good  work.  He  was  born  at  North  Hempstead,  Long  Island,  in  August,  1761.  He 
was  a  student  with  Dr.  John  Bard.  He  also  studied  law.  In  1788  he  was  a  commis- 
sioner to  treat  with  the  Indians  of  New  York  State  for  the  purchase  of  their  lands.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  State  Legislature  in  1790,  and  in  1792  became  professor  of  chem- 
istry, natural  history,  and  philosophy  in  Columbia  College.  With  Chancellor  Livingston 
and  others  Mitchill  founded  in  New  York  the  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Agriculture, 
Manufactures,  and  the  Useful  Arts.  His  published  account  of  a  tour  along  the  Hudson 
established  his  fame  abroad  as  a  scientific  and  very  entertaining  writer.  In  1797  he 
with  others  established  the  Medical  Repository  (quarterly),  which  he  edited  sixteen  years. 
He  was  again  a  member  of  the  New  York  Assembly,  and  in  1801-04  and  1810-13  he  was 
a  member  of  Congress.  Meanwhile  (1804-09)  he  was  United  States  Senator.  From  1808 
to  1820  he  was  professor  of  natural  history  in  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  of 
botany  and  materia  medica  1820-20,  and  in  1826-30  was  vice-president  of  the  Rutgers 
Medical  College  in  New  York.  Dr.  Mitchill,  with  Drs.  Hosack  and  Hugh  Williams, 
founded  the  New  York  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society  in  1815,  of  which  De  Witt 
Clinton  was  the  first  president. 

Dr.  Mitchill  had  a  very  retentive  memory,  which  was  stored  with  a  vast  amount  of 
learning.  He  extended  the  bounds  of  science,  was  an  efficient  friend  and  helper  of  Ful- 
ton and  Livingston  in  carrying  forward  to  success  their  plans  of  steam  navigation, 
was  among  the  passengers  on  the  Clermont  on  her  first  trip  from  New  York  to  Albany, 
and  was  a  member  of  many  literary  and  scientific  societies  in  Europe  and  his  native 
country.  He  was  also  a  prolific  writer  on  scientific  subjects.  He  published  anony- 
mously a  little  work  entitled  "  A  Picture  of  New  York,"  which,  it  is  said,  suggested  to 
Washington  Irving  his  "  Knickerbocker's  History  of  New  York."  Dr.  Mitchill  died  in 
September,  1831. 


120 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


than  sixty  deaf  and  dumb  persons  living  in  the  city  of  New  York,  the 
population  of  which  was  less  than  120,000.  And  it  was  found  that 
most  of  these  were  children  of  poor  parents,  who  could  not  afford  to 
send  them  to  Hartford  to  be  educated.  The  necessity  for  such  an 
institution  in  the  city  was  consequently  apparent.  A  society  was 
formed,  and  was  incorporated  by  the  Legislature  in  April,  1817,  witli 
De  "Witt  Clinton  as  president,  and  a  school  with  live  pupils  was  opened 
in  May,  under  the  charge  of  the  Rev.  A.  O.  Stansburv.  Ignorant  of 
the  fact  that  gevtwre  is  the  natural  language  of  deaf  mutes,  Mr.  Stans- 
bury  labored  to  teach  them  articulation,  and  failed.  After  a  year  or 
two  the  effort  was  abandoned." 

In  1831  the  late  Dr.  Harvey  P.  Peet,  who  had  acquired  much  repu- 
tation as  a  teacher  and  a  man  of  executive  ability,  was  called  to  the 
head  of  the  institution,  lie  swayed  its  destinies  for  more  than  thirty- 
six  years,  and  built  up  a  grand  model  institution. 

During  the  first  eleven  years  the  Asylum  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb 
was  accommodated  in  one  of  the  public  buildings.  In  1829  it  was 
established  in  the  buildings  on  Fifteenth  Street,  afterward  occupied  by 
Columbia  College.  In  December,  1856,  it  took  up  its  abode  in  a 
beautiful  house  at  Fan  wood,  on  Washington  Heights,  about  nine 
miles  from  the  City  Hall,  where,  surrounded  by  about  thirty-seven 
acres  of  land,  it  pursues  with  great  success  its  benevolent  work,  under 
the  guidance  of  Lewis  P.  Peet,  PL.  1).,  son  of  Dr.  Harvey  P.  Peet. 
The  principal  buildings  are  of  brick,  four  stories  in  height,  and  planned 
to  accommodate  more  than  four  hundred  pupils  of  both  sexes,  with 
teachers  and  employes.  When  Dr.  Peet  took  charge,  in  1881,  there 
were  eighty-five  pupils  ;  when  he  relinquished  it,  in  18G7,  there  were 
over  four  hundred  pupils. f  During  the  year  1882  there  were  five 
hundred  pupils  under  instruction. 

This  institution  was  at  first  supported  by  private  benevolence,  but  it 
was  soon  taken  under  the  patronage  of  the  State.  It  derives  its 
income,  excepting  from  occasional  donations  and  legacies,  from  four 
sources  :  First,  from  direct  appropriations  for  the  support  of  State 

*  The  first  officers  of  this  institution  were  :  De  Witt  Clinton,  president  ;  Richard  Varick 
and  John  Ferguson,  vice-presidents  ;  John  Slidell,  secretary  ;  and  John  B.  Scott,  treas- 
urer.   There  was  a  board  of  directors,  consisting  of  twenty  prominent  citizens. 

\  Harvey  Prindle  Peet,  LL.D.,  was  born  at  Bethlehem,  Conn.,  in  1704,  and  was  grad- 
uated at  Yale  College  in  1822.  He  was  associated  with  the  late  Thomas  H.  Gallaudet, 
LL.D.,  as  instructor  in  the  Hartford  Asylum  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  from  1822  to  1831, 
when  he  was  called  to  the  principalship  of  the  New  York  Institute  for  the  Deaf  and 
Dumb,  in  which  position  he  spent  thirty-seven  of  the  remaining  years  of  his  life.  The 
value  of  Dr.  Peet's  services  to  the  community  cannot  be  estimated.  Dr.  Peet  died  in  1873. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


beneficiaries  ;  second,  from  payments  from  the  counties  for  deaf  mute 
children  too  young  to  be  placed  on  the  State  list  ;  third,  payments 
from  the  State  of  New  Jersey  for  a  certain  number  of  pupils  who  are 
beneficiaries  from  that  State  ;  and  fourth,  payments  on  account  of 
pupils  who  belong  to  families  in  easy  circumstances. 

The  regular  term  of  instruction  is  eight  years.  All  the  ordinary 
English  branches  of  learning  are  taught.  They  are  all  accustomed  to 
labor  :  the  girls  in  plain  sewing  and  lighter  household  duties,  and  the 
boys  are  instructed  in  gardening,  cabinet-making,  shoemaking,  tailor- 
ing, and  printing.  Hundreds  of  former  pupils  support  themselves,  and 
in  many  cases  dependent  families  by  their  own  labor. 

Isaac  Lewis  Peet,  IX. D.,  is  president  of  the  educational  department, 
assisted  by  twenty  professors  and  teachers,  one  half  of  whom  are 
women  ;  matrons  for  the  several  departments,  and  a  foreman  for  each 
of  the  seven  industries  carried  on  in  the  institution.* 

Tin-:  New  York  Eye  and  Ear  Infirmary  was  founded  in  1820. 
Four  years  previously,  two  young  medical  students  who  had  graduated 
at  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  Xew  York  City,  and  who 
had  spent  the  previous  year  together  in  the  Xew  York  Hospital,  one  as 
house  physician  and  the  other  as  house  surgeon,  sailed  for  Europe 
together,  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  their  knowledge  of  the  profes- 
sion. Having  been  diligent  attendants  on  all  the  lectures  in  the  city, 
they  believed  themselves  as  well  equipped  as  any  of  their  fellow- 
students  for  the  duties  of  the  profession.  They  had  been  taught,  with 
other  branches  of  sur^erv,  something  of  the  treatment  of  diseases  of 
the  eye,  and  had  seen  them  treated  in  private  practice  by  their  pre- 
ceptors. They  felt  competent  to  treat  these  diseases  themselves,  and 
with  this  self-satisfaction  they  arrived  in  London,  there  to  pursue  their 
studies. 

Among  other  medical  charities  in  the  great  city  was  an  eye  infirm- 
ary, recently  established.  They  entered  the  institution  as  pupils,  and 
soon  made  the  important  discovery  that  they  were  profoundly  ignorant 
of  the  surgery  of  the  eye,  and  that  what  they  had  been  taught  on  that 
subject  was  almost  of  no  value.  They  drew  the  logical  inference  that 
ophthalmic  surgery  was  almost  unknown  in  America.  With  the  ardor 
of  youth  they  devoted  themselves  to  this  new  branch  of  knowledge. 
On  their  return  home,  in  ISIS,  they  resolved  to  establish  in  Xew  York 

■  The  officers  of  the  institution  for  the  year  1883  were  :  Hon.  Erastus  Brooks,  presi- 
dent ;  Hon.  Enoch  L.  Fancher,  LL.D.,  first  vice-president  ;  Eev.  Charles  A.  Stoddard, 
D.D.,  second  vice-president  ;  George  A.  Bobbins,  treasurer  ;  Thatcher  M.  Adams,  sec- 
retary, and  James  C.  Carson,  M.D.,  superintendent. 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


an  infirmary  for  curing  diseases  of  the  eye.  These  two  young  men 
were  Drs.  Edward  Delafield  and  J.  Kearney  Rodgers. 

Young,  with  small  pecuniary  means,  and  without  reputation,  but 
assisted  by  the  sanction  of  those  with  whom  they  had  been  educated, 
and  the  influence  of  their  names,  they  hired  two  rooms  in  the  second 
story  of  a  building  in  Chatham  Street,  and  with  a  few  necessary  imple- 
ments they  founded  the  institution  now  grown  to  be  the  famous  New 
York  Eye  and  Ear  Infirmary.  Some  students  of  medicine  volunteered 
to  perform  the  duties  of  apothecary,  in  rotation,  and  the  man  from 
whom  they  hired  the  rooms  acted  as  superintendent.  They  made  it 
publicly  known  that  any  one  applying  at  No.  45  Chatham  Street  at 
certain  hours  on  certain  days,  having  diseases  of  the  eyes,  would  be 
heated  gratuitously.  In  a  single  week  it  was  evident  that  the  enter- 
prise would  be  successful.  That  was  in  August,  l82o.  In  a  period  of 
less  than  seven  months  from  that  time  no  less  that  four  hundred  and 
thirty-six  patients  had  been  treated  at  the  infirmary.  It  proved  a 
great  public  boon.  Persons  totally  blind  received  their  sight,  and 
those  who  were  languishing  in  hopelessness  were  encouraged,  and 
found  themselves  on  the  way  to  perfect  cure.  Drs.  Wright  Post  and 
Samuel  Bowne,  two  of  the  most  eminent  physicians  and  surgeons  in 
the  city,  gave  the  young  men  their  names  as  consulting  surgeons. 

On  the  JJth  of  March,  1821,  a  large  meeting  of  citizens  was  held  at 
the  City  Hall  for  the  puqiose  of  "  adopting  the  means  for  perpetuating 
the  infirmary  for  curing  diseases  of  the  eye."  A  committee  was 
a 1 1| wanted  to  solicit  subscriptions  for  the  infirmary.  Succeeding  in 
securing  sufficient  means,  a  society  of  the  subscribers  was  formed,  with 
over  two  hundred  members.  They  convened  on  the  first  of  April, 
and  organized  by  the  election  of  William  Few  as  president,  and  other 
usual  officers.  It  was  thus  established  by  leading  citizens  of  New 
York,  but  its  means  being  small,  it  continued  to  occupy  its  original 
rooms,  at  an  annual  rent  of  $150.  The  society  was  incorporated  on 
March  20,  1*22,  and  the  next  year  the  Legislature  granted  the  institu- 
tion $1000  for  two  years.* 

In  18(14  the  charter  was  amended,  and  the  institution  received  the 
title  of  "  The  New  York  Eye  and  Ear  Infirmary."  with  authority  to 
"  treat  and  care  for  indigent  persons  affected  with  deafness  and  other 
diseases  of  the  ear."  According  to  the  sixty-second  annual  report, 
October  1,  1882,  there  had  been  treated  in  the  institution  during  the 
year  14,221  patients,  of  whom  more  than  10,000  were  treated  for  dis- 


*  See  address  of  Dr.  Edward  Delafiold.  April  25,  185C. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


123 


cases  of  the  eye.  Of  the  whole  number,  nearly  8000  were  natives  of 
the  United  States.  The  total  number  treated  since  the  foundation  of 
the  Infirmary  was  274,802.* 

This  institution  now  occupies  a  spacious  building  on  the  corner  of 
Thirteenth  Street  and  Second  Avenue,  which  was  completed  in  the 
autumn  of  1855.  The  infirmary  has  an  efficient  surgical  staff  in  each 
department — ophthalmic,  aural,  and  throat. 

*  The  officers  of  the  institution  in  1882  were  :  Royal  Phelps,  president  ;  Benjamin  H. 
Field,  first  vice-president  ;  Abraham  Du  Bois,  M.D.,  second  vice-president  ;  John  L. 
Riker,  treasurer,  and  Richard  H.  Derby,  M.D.,  secretary. 


CHAPTER  V. 


NE  of  the  still  thriving,  active,  and  useful  charitable  institutions  in 


V_y  the  city  of  New  York,  having;  its  origin  in  the  closing  period  of 
Knickerbocker  social  rule,  is  the  Hebrew  Benevolent  and  Orphan 
Asylum  Society,  founded  in  1822.  It  held  its  semi-centennial  celebra- 
tion in  1872,  at  which  time  Chief-Justice  Daly,  one  of  the  speakers  on 
the  occasion,  gave  a  most  interesting  account  of  the  first  appearance  of 
Jews  in  the  city  of  New  York  (then  New  Amsterdam),  where  now 
(1683)  they  constitute  nearly  one  fourteenth  of  its  population,  and 
nearly  one  fourth  of  the  Hebrew  population  in  the  United  States. 

Judge  Daly  said,  in  substance,  that  after  the  successful  revolt  of  the 
Netherlands,  and  William  of  Holland  had  proclaimed  freedom  of  con- 
science in  his  dominions,  expatriated  Jews  from  Spain  settled  in  the 
free  cities,  especially  at  Amsterdam.  By  their  industry,  integrity, 
and  thrift  they  became  within  fifty  years  the  most  influential  citizens 
of  Amsterdam,  and  there  they  erected  the  first  synagogue. 

These  people  became  large  stockholders  in  the  commercial  operations 
by  which  New  York  was  founded.  Curacoa,  which  then,  as  now, 
belonged  to  the  Dutch,  had  many  Hebrew  merchants.  Jewish  emi- 
grants from  both  that  country  and  Holland  came  to  New  Amsterdam 
(now  New  York)  and  craved  citizenship,  but  the  sturdy  old  churchman 
Governor  Stuvvesant  looked  upon  their  advent  with  great  disfavor. 
Among  these  immigrants  were  Abram  Costa,  Jacob  Hendricks,  Isaac 
JVIeza.  Melhado,  Abram  Lucas,  and  Asher  Levey.  All  but  the  last- 
named  were  of  Spanish  or  Portuguese  origin.  These  were  the  first 
Jews  seen  on  Manhattan  Island. 

Governor  Stnyvesant  wished  to  exclude  these  Hebrews,  and  wrote 
to  Holland  requesting  that  they  be  not  allowed  to  enter  and  dwell  in 
the  province.  The  home  authorities  answered  that  his  request  was 
inconsistent  with  freedom  and  justice. 

Stuvvesant  refused  these  immigrants  permission  to  have  a  place  of 
their  own  wherein  to  bury  their  dead.  They  were  heavily  taxed,  and 
when  two  of  them  remonstrated  with  the  governor,  he  said,  "  If  you 
are  not  satisfied,  go  elsewhere." 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


125 


Stuyvesanfs  harsh  treatment  of  these  Jews  in  every  possible  way, 
when  reported  to  the  home  authorities,  brought  another  letter,  which 
commanded  him  to  allow  the  Hebrews  the  privilege  of  quiet  habitation, 
subject  to  no  condition  save  to  take  care  of  their  poor,  which  they  have 
always  done. 

Melhado  now  purchased  some  land,  hut  the  governor  would  not 
allow  him  to  have  a  deed  of  it.  A  petition  of  the  Jews  for  equality  in 
taxation  and  the  rights  of  trade  with  other  dwellers  in  New  Amster- 
dam was  answered  only  by  permission  to  have  a  burial-ground.  An- 
other and  a  sharper  letter  came  to  Stuyvesant  from  Holland,  which 
resulted  in  placing  the  Jews  on  an  equality  with  others  as  to  civil  and 
religious  rights,  and  these  they  enjoyed  so  long  as  the  Dutch  bore  rule 
on  Manhattan  Island. 

In  1696  there  were  twenty  Jewish  families  in  New  York.  That 
year  they  built  their  first  synagogue,  in  which  a  merchant  named 
Samuel  Brown  officiated  as  rabbi.  This  synagogue  was  removed  in 
17i;s  to  Mill  Street,  a  narrow,  irregular  lane  that  extended  from  Stone 
Street  to  Broad  Street. 

Peter  Kalm,  a  Swedish  naturalist  who  visited  New  York  twenty 
years  later,  wrote  :  "  The  Jews  are  many  ;  they  have  large  stores  and 
country-seats,  and  enjoy  equal  privileges  with  their  fellow-citizens." 
The  last  remark  could  not  then  have  applied  to  any  other  country  in 
the  world. 

"When  the  Jews  built  their  first  synagogue  in  New  York  and  num- 
bered about  one  hundred  souls,  the  city  contained  a  population  of  eight 
thousand  ;  now  (1883),  when  that  population  is  probably  one  million 
four  hundred  thousand,  the  Jews  number  fully  ninety-five  thousand, 
and  have  twenty-six  synagogues.  Of  these  the  finest  is  Temple 
Emanu-el,  on  Fifth  xY  venue.  And  it  must  be  conceded  by  all  observing 
men  that  the  Jews  in  the  city  of  New  York,  as  a  class,  rank  among 
the  best  citizens  in  all  the  qualities  which  pertain  to  good  citizenship. 
They  are  honest,  industrious,  and  thrifty.  They  are  lovers  of  peace 
and  their  families.  They  support  their  own  poor.  They  are  obedient 
to  the  laws,  and  they  are  proverbially  temperate  in  all  things.  They 
contrihute  absolutely  nothing,  as  it  were,  to  the  burdens  of  pauperism 
and  crime  which  bear  so  heavily  upon  the  city.  Indeed,  so  far  as  the 
Jews  are  concerned,  thei'e  seems  to  be  no  use  for  almshouses  and  jails. 
As  a  rule,  they  seem  to  obey  the  voice  of  Ilillel  :  "What  is  noxious 
unto  thee,  do  not  unto  thy  neighbor." 

The  origin  of  the  Hebrew  Benevolent  and  Orphan  Asylum  Society 
of  the  City  of  New  York  was  in  this  wise  : 


126 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


In  the  spring  of  the  year  1820  a  Jew  who  had  been  a  soldier  in 
the  American  war  for  independence  was  brought  in  a  critical  state 
to  the  City  Hospital.  He  had  no  friends  nor  money,  but  expressed 
a  wish  that,  being  a  Jew,  some  of  his  co-religionists  might  be  sent  for. 
John  J.  Hart,  Joseph  Davies,  and  others  visited  the  sufferer,  and 
collected  money  for  his  support.  He  died  soon  afterward.  About 
$300  of  the  money  collected  was  left.  The  question  arose  in  the 
minds  of  the  custodian  whether  it  would  not  be  advisable  to  form 
a  benevolent  society  by  which  relief  might  be  given  to  Jews  in  time 
of  need,  as  well  as  to  others.  It  was  done.  On  April  S,  1822,  the 
following  named  gentlemen  formallv  associated  themselves  under  the 
title  of  the  Hebrew  Benevolent  Society  of  the  City  of  New  York  : 
Daniel  Jackson.  Joseph  Jackson,  Joseph  Davies,  John  J.  Hart, 
Abraham  Collins,  Rowland  Davies,  Simon  Myers,  Abraham  Mitchell, 
Charles  J.  Hart,  and  Joseph  Samuel — all  members  of  the  Jewish 
Church.  Daniel  Jackson  was  chosen  president,  and  Charles  J.  Hart 
secretary. 

The  first  anniversary  of  the  society  was  held  at  Burnett's  Hotel,  on 
the  Bloomingdale  Road.  The  supper  was  cooked  by  the  members 
themselves,  and  the  sum  of  $49  was  collected.  Another  banquet  was 
•riven  at  the  Botanic  Garden  in  lSj>c>.  The  societv  worked  on,  with 
ever-increasing  membership  and  funds,  until  1832,  when  the  Legislature 
of  New  York  gave  it  a  charter  of  incorporation.  Bequests  and  gifts 
followed.  Finally,  in  February,  1859,  the  Hebrew  Benevolent  Society 
and  the  German  Hebrew  Benevolent  Society  were  united  for  the  pur- 
pose of  establishing  an  orphan  asylum  and  home  for  aged  and  indigent 
Jews.  In  A | ail  the  consolidation  was  effected.  Their  united  funds 
amounted  to  about  $25,000. 

This  union  was  hailed  with  pleasure  by  the  Jewish  community.  A 
new  charter,  with  enlarged  powers,  was  obtained,  and  the  city  authori- 
ties were  authorized  to  appropriate  land  for  the  building  of  an  asylum. 
Meanwhile  a  bouse  was  rented  in  West  Thirty-ninth  Street,  and  thirty 
orphan  children  were  placed  in  it.  That  was  in  1860.  Demands 
upon  it  increased,  and  the  trustees,  having  procured  the  donation  of 
a  lot  on  the  corner  of  Third  Avenue  and  Seventy-seventh  Street,  and 
an  additional  grant  of  $30,000,  proceeded  to  the  erection  of  a  substan- 
tial building.  The  corner-stone  was  laid  in  September,  1803,  and 
the  building  was  completed  and  dedicated  in  November,  1863. 
Anions  other  measures  for  increasing  the  funds  of  the  institution, 
the  great  Hebrew  Charity  Fair,  held  in  1870,  in  connection  with  its 
twin  sister  in  charity,  Mount  Sinai  Hospital,  was  very  successful.  The 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


127 


share  of  the  proceeds  which  fell  to  the  asylum  amounted  to  nearly 
$30,000.* 

The  society  has  in  operation  an  excellent  system  of  education  for 
orphans.  There  is  a  home  school,  in  which  the  Hebrew  language, 
religion,  and  history  are  taught.  There  is  also  an  incidental  school,  in 
which  trades  are  taught  to  the  boys  and  sewing  and  domestic  service  to 
the  girls.  This  department  is  self-supporting.  The  girls  readily  rind 
places  in  the  best  of  families  or  in  commercial  houses  when  they  leave 
the  asylum.  There  is  a  steam  printing  establishment  at  the  industrial 
school,  which  does  all  kinds  of  work  in  the  printing  line.  A  large 
portion  of  the  orphans  attend  the  public  schools. 

In  1882  there  were  three  hundred  and  thirty-seven  inmates  of  the 
asylum.  Provision  has  been  made  for  the  erection  of  a  new  orphan 
asylum,  land  having  been  purchased  between  One  Hundred  and  Thirty- 
sixth  Street  and  One  Hundred  and  Thirty-eighth  streets  and  Tenth 
Avenue,  on  the  Bloomingdale  Road. 

The  officers  of  the  society  in  1882  were:  Jesse  Seligman,  president  ; 
Henry  Rice,  vice-president  ;  M.  Kindskopf,  treasurer,  and  Myer  Stern, 
secretary.  The  Hebrews  of  the  city  of  New  York  have  several  other 
charitable  and  benevolent  institutions  which  have  been  established  since 
the  one  above  considered. 

There  were  several  minor  charitable,  benevolent,  and  friendly  associ- 
ations in  the  city  of  New  York  during  the  half  decade  before  the  year 
1830.    The  principal  of  these  were  the  following  : 

The  Humane  Society,  founded  by  a  few  benevolent  persons  near 
the  close  of  the  last  century.  Its  primary  object  was  to  afford  relief  to 
distressed  debtors  in  prison.  The  scope  of  its  efforts  was  enlarged  in 
1806  so  as  to  include  resuscitation  of  persons  apparently  dead  from 
drowning.  The  society  was  incorporated  in  1814.  It  afforded  support 
and  clothing  to  poor  debtors  in  prison,  secured  the  liberation  of  prison- 
ers who  were  entitled  to  a  discharge,  distributed  soup  to  the  poor  in 
general,  and  resuscitated  persons  who  were  apparently  drowned.  They 
also  took  measures  to  suppress  street -begging.  The  society  established 
a  soup-house  at  the  eastern  entrance  to  the  City  Hall  Park.  It  was 
supported  by  occasional  donations  and  annual  subscriptions. 

The  Aged  Ixdioent  Female  Society  was  composed  entirely  of 
women  associated  for  the  purpose  of  affording  relief  to  respectable  indi- 
gent and  aged  women.  It  was  instituted  at  the  beginning  of  the  year 
1814,  and  on  March  10,  1815,  the  Legislature  of  New  York  passed  an 

*  See  address  of  Mr.  Myer  Stern  (then  president  of  the  society},  on  the  fiftieth  anni- 
versary celebration,  in  1872. 


128 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


act  incorporating  it,  to  continue  fifteen  years..  It  was  allowed  to  hold 
an  estate  to  the  value  of  $100,000. 

The  Female  Association  was  a  society  composed  entirely  of  young 
women  who  belonged  to  the  sect  of  Friends,  commonly  called  Quakers. 
The  object  of  the  society  was  the  visiting  of  the  sick  poor,  and  obtain- 
ing instruction  for  the  children  of  such  persons  as  were  not  provided 
for,  or  who  did  not  belong  to  any  religious  society.  It  was  chartered 
March  26,  1813,  to  continue  twenty  years,  and  it  was  allowed  to  hold 
property  to  the  amount  of  $40,000.  Membership  was  obtained  by  the 
payment  of  $5.  By  a  special  clause  in  the  act  of  incorporation  the 
society  was  entitled  to  a  share  of  the  State  school  fund. 

Till-:  SOCIETY  FOB  THE  tvELIEE  OF  PoOB  Wlliows  with  SMALL  ChILDBEN 

was  founded  in  1T'.*T  by  Isabella  (iraham  and  a  few  other  benevolent 
women,  for  the  laudable  purpose  of  affording  aid  and  comfort  to  such 
worthy  and  respectable  widows,  with  little  children,  as  could  not  pro- 
vide the  means  of  obtaining  even  the  necessaries  of  life.  It  was  incor- 
porated in  1 and  by  its  charter  it  was  allowed  to  hold  property  to 
the  amount  of  $50,000.  Material  aid,  timely  words  of  encouragement, 
judicious  counsel,  assistance  to  get  employment,  the  education  of  the 
children,  and  every  other  good  the  managers  can  bestow  were  included 
in  the  list  of  their  benefactions.  Money  is  seldom  bestowed  in  the  way 
of  relief,  but  such  necessaries  of  food  and  clothing  as  the  object  stands 
most  in  need  of.  The  chief  efforts  of  this  society  are  directed  to  find- 
ing employment  for  those  who  are  able  and  willing  to  labor. 

The  operations  of  this  society  have  been  carried  on  in  the  most 
economical  manner.  There  are  no  salaried  agents  to  consume  the 
funds  contributed.  The  city  is  divided  into  districts,  and  a  manager 
appointed  for  each.  The  condition  of  becoming  a  beneficiary  of  the 
society  is  to  be  "  a  widow  with  two  small  children  under  ten  years  of 
age,  who  is  willing  to  exert  herself  for  her  own  support,  and  is  not 
receiving  aid  from  any  almshouse. "  The  funds  of  the  society  are 
derived  chiefly  from  donations  and  subscriptions.  In  1863  Mr.  Chaun- 
cey  Rose  gave  the  society  $10,000,  with  a  request  that  it  should  not 
form  a  part  of  any  invested  fund,  but  be  used  as  the  wants  of  the 
society  required. 

The  Female  Assistance  Society  was  an  association  formed  by  some 
benevolent  women  for  the  relief  of  sick  poor  women  and  children.  It 
was  incorporated  in  April,  1817,  to  continue  until  November,  1830. 
Its  funds  were  limited  to  $3000. 

The  Widows'  Find  Society  was  incorporated  on  March  10,  1815, 
and  allowed  to  hold  funds  to  the  amount  of  $2500  a  year.    Its  object 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


129 


was  the  relief  of  the  widows  and  children  of  deceased  clergymen  of  the 
Reformed  Protestant  Dutch  Church  in  the  United  States. 

The  Assistance  Society  was  first  organized  in  1808  for  relieving  and 
advising  sick  and  poor  persons  in  the  city.  It  was  chartered  in  Febru- 
ary, 1810,  by  which  permission  was  given  it  to  hold  real  and  personal 
property  to  the  amount  of  $25,000.  Its  charter  expired  in  December, 
1825. 

The  Provident  Society  was  established  for  the  purpose  of  provid- 
ing a  fund  to  support  infirm  members,  and  their  widows  and  children 
on  their  decease.  Their  capital  was  limited  to  Sl(,<(,n<)-  By  the  same 
act  three  other  charitable  institutions  were  incorporated  for  a  similar 
purpose,  and  with  the  like  limited  capital.  These  were  The  Mutual 
Benefit  Society,  The  Benevolent  Society,  and  The  Albion  Benevo- 
lent Society. 

These  several  societies  have  nearly  all  disappeared,  as  distinct  organ- 
izations. They  had  their  origin  in  the  noblest  emotions  of  the  human 
soul — desire  to  conform  to  the  golden  rule  of  life.  They  were  the 
comparatively  feeble  efforts  of  large-hearted,  broad-minded  men  and 
women — the  foreshadowings  of  the  magnificent  institutions  established 
and  carried  on  vigorously  in  the  city  of  New  York  in  our  day  for  the 
same  holy  purpose — the  purpose  that  animated  Ben  Adhem  and  caused 
his  name  to  lead  all  the  rest  on  the  list  of  the  recording  angel,  because 
he  "loved  his  fellow-men. " 

Among  the  benevolent  institutions  which  existed  in  the  city  of  New 
York  before  1830,  The  Sailors'  Snug  Harbor  holds  a  most  conspicuous 
place.  Before  its  establishment  there  was  a  Marine  Society,  having  in 
view  similar  objects.  This  society  was  founded  in  1770,  the  funds  of 
which  were  limited  to  $15,000  a  year.  Its  immediate  objects  were  the 
improvement  of  maritime  knowledge  and  the  relief  of  indigent  masters 
of  vessels,  their  widows  and  children.  The  funds  of  the  society  were 
limited  to  $15,000  a  year.  Its  affairs  were  managed  by  a  committee 
composed  of  merchants,  magistrates,  and  managers,  and  it  was  sup- 
ported by  an  annual  subscription  from  each  member  of  §2. 

In  the  summer  of  1801  Captain  Robert  Richard  Randall,  a  son  of 
Captain  Thomas  Randall,  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Marine  Society  of 
Xew  York,  and  himself  a  merchant  and  shipmaster,  by  his  will,  bearing 
date  June  1,  after  making  some  specific  bequests,  devised  the  residue 
of  his  estate  in  trust  to  the  chancellor  of  the  State  of  Xew  York,*  the 

*  A  new  Constitution  of  the  State  of  New  York,  adopted  in  1846,  abolished  the  office 
of  chancellor  after  July,  1847.    Since  that  (ime  the  board  has  consisted  of  seven  members. 


130 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


mayor  and  recorder  of  the  city  of  New  York,  the  president  and  vice- 
president  of  the  Marine  Society  of  the  city,  the  senior  minister  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  in  the  city,  and  the  senior  minister  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  same  city,  for  the  time  being,  and  to  their  succes- 
sors in  office  respectively,  to  "  receive  the  rents,  issues,  and  profits 
thereof,"  and  to  apply  the  same  "  to  the  erection,  in  some  eligible  part 
of  the  land  whereon  the  testator  then  lived,  of  a  building  for  an  asylum 
or  marine  hospital,  to  be  called  '  The  Sailors1  Snug  Harbor.'"  The 
object  was  to  provide  for  the  maintenance  of  aged,  decrepit,  and  worn- 
out  sailors. 

These  trustees  applied  to  the  State  Legislature  for  a  charter  of  incor- 
poration. It  was  granted,  and  the  charter  bears  date  February  6, 
1806.  In  1814,  doubts  having  been  expressed  as  to  who,  in  the  con- 
templation of  the  testator,  were  to  be  considered  the  "  senior  ministers" 
of  the  Episcopal  and  Presbyterian  churches  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
the  Legislature,  by  act  passed  March  25,  1814,  declared  that  the  rector 
of  Trinity  Church  in  New  York  and  the  minister  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Wall  Street  should  be  considered  trustees  of  the  corporation. 

The  property  devised  by  Captain  Randall  for  the  Sailors'  Snug  Har- 
bor consisted  of  land  lying  in  the  Fifteenth  "Ward  (between  Broadway 
and  the  Bowery  and  Seventh  and  Tenth  streets),  comprising  little  more 
than  twenty-one  acres,  four  lots  in  the  Fourth  Ward,  three  and  six  per 
cent  stocks  to  the  amount  of  little  over  $7*>oo,  and  fifty  shares  of  the 
stock  of  the  Manhattan  Bank. 

The  rapid  growth  of  the  city  and  advance  in  the  value  of  property 
within  its  limits  caused  the  trustees  to  ask  the  Legislature  to  authorize 
them  to  erect  the  proposed  building  elsewhere,  and  regulate  and 
improve  the  land  in  the  Fifteenth  Ward,  and  lease  it.  This  authority 
was  granted  in  1*2*.  and  m  1N31  the  trustees  purchased  a  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty  acres  on  the  north  shore  of  Staten  Island,  to  which 
twenty  acres  were  afterward  added. 

For  many  years  persons  claiming  to  be  heirs  of  Captain  Randall  con- 
tested his  will.  The  question  was  settled  in  favor  of  the  trustees,  by 
the  Supreme  Court  in  1S3<»,  when  the  land  was  divided  into  lots  con- 
formable to  the  plan  of  the  city  streets,  and  leased  for  the  term  of 
twenty-one  years.  The  corner-stone  of  the  Sailors'  Snug  Harbor  was 
laid  on  October  31,  1881,  and  on  the  first  of  August,  1833,  the  chief 
building  was  completed,  and  the  institution  was  formally  opened  with 
religious  and  other  ceremonies.  The  remains  of  the  founder  were  soon 
afterward  deposited  beneath  a  white  marble  monument  in  front  of  the 
building,  bearing  the  following  inscriptions  : 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


131 


North  Side. 

"  The  Trustees  of  the  Sailors'  Snug  Harbor  erected  this  Monun  ent 
To  the  Memory  of 
Robert  Richard  Randall, 
By  whose  munificence  this  Institution  was  Founded." 


East  Side. 

"  The  Humane  Institution  of  the  Sailors'  Snug  Harbor. 
Conceived  in  a  Spirit  of  Enlarged  Benevolence, 
With  an  endowment  which  time  has  proved  fully  adequate  to  the  objects 
of  the  Donor  ; 
And  organized  in  a  manner  which  shows 
"Wisdom  and  Foresight. 
The  founder  of  this  noble  Charity 
Will  ever  be  held  in  grateful  Remembrance 
By  the  partakers  of  his  Bounty." 


Soidh  Side. 

"  Charity  never  Faileth, 
Its  Memorial  is  Immortal." 


West  Side. 

"  The  Trustees  of  the  Sailors'  Snug  Harbor  caused  the  Remains  of 
Robert  Richard  Randall, 
To  be  removed  from  the  original  place  of  Interment 
And  deposited  beneath  this  Monument, 
On  the  21st  of  August,  1834." 


Tii  the  ball  of  the  centre  building  may  be  seen  a  marble  bust  of  Cap- 
tain Randall.  The  buildings  consist  of  a  centre  edifice,  with  two 
wings,  a  dining-hall  building,  a  hospital,  and  chapel. 

So  enormously  has  the  value  of  the  real  estate  in  the  city  increased, 
that  the  income  from  it  provides  ample  support  for  the  institution. 
The  annual  income  in  1806  was  $42-t3  ;  now  (1883)  it  is  about 
$2.*>< ),(!()(>.  The  delay  of  almost  thirty  years  in  putting  the  institution 
into  operation  was  occasioned  by  the  very  limited  income  of  the  estate, 
and  subsequently  by  the  unsettled  state  of  the  trust  ;  by  the  great 
expenses  incurred  in  defending  suits  brought  against  the  trustees,  and 
by  heavy  assessments  for  regulating  the  lots.  But  for  fifty  years  this 
great  charity,  so  appropriate  for  a  great  commercial  city,  has  been  dis- 
pensing blessings  to  a  class  of  useful  men  who  have  been  too  much 
neglected  by  society  at  large. 

The  Snu£  Harbor  has  an  average  of  fullv  live  hundred  old  or  dis- 
abled  seamen  under  its  charge,  who  are  comfortably  fed,  clothed,  and 


132 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


lodged,  have  all  necessary  wants  supplied,  and  religious  instruction 
.attended  to,  while  perfect  liberty  of  conscience  is  granted. 

The  government  of  the  institution  is  under  a  governor,  a  chaplain,  a 
physician,  an  agent,  and  a  steward.  None  but  those  who  have  served 
"  before  the  mast,"  and  free  from  contagious  disease,  have  not  ade- 
quate means  for  self-support,  and  who  have  sailed  for  five  years 
under  the  United  States  flag  in  the  naval  or  merchant  service,  are 
admitted. 

Before  the  trustees  of  the  Sailors'  Snug  Harbor  had  made  their  final 
arrangements  for  building  on  their  land  on  Staten  Island,  a  successful 
effort  had  been  made  (1830-31)  for  establishing  a  Seamen's  Retreat 
and  Hospital. 

In  1  ~r>4  the  municipal  authorities  of  New  York  (then  containing  a 
population  of  about  sooo)  adopted  quarantine  measures  for  the  protec- 
tion of  the  health  of  the  city.  They  imposed  a  tax  upon  all  persons 
entering  the  port  of  New  York,  both  seamen  and  passengers,  and  with 
the  fund  thus  procured  they  established  hospital  accommodations,  first 
on  Governor's  Island,  and  then  on  Bedloe's  Island.  After  the  Revolu- 
tion laws  were  enacted  by  the  State  Legislature  for  regulating  a  proper 
quarantine,  and  in  1796  a  quarantine  hospital  was  established  on  Staten 
Island.  The  taxes  eolleeted  from  seamen  and  passengers  was  paid  into 
a  joint  fund,  which  was  under  the  control  of  the  u  commissioners  of 
health"  of  the  city  of  New  York,  and  was  called  the  Mariners'  Fund. 

This  fund  was  appropriated  to  defraying  the  expense  of  buildings  at 
Quarantine,  to  the  aid  of  the  "  House  of  Refuge  for  Juvenile  Delin- 
quents," the  endowment  of  dispensaries  from  year  to  year,  and  other 
things,  and  the  remainder,  if  any,  was  paid  into  the  State  treasury. 
A  very  small  amount  of  the  money  collected  by  these  taxes  was  used 
for  intended  purposes,  for  only  hospital  accommodations  were  provided 
alike  for  passengers  and  seamen,  and  were  afforded  but  for  four  months 
of  the  year,  at  the  Marine  Hospital. 

This  manifest  injustice  to  seafaring  men  aroused  the  attention  of 
commercial  men  in  1830,  and  at  the  session  of  the  State  Legislature  in 
L831  a  law  was  passed  which  repealed  all  former  laws  relating  to  the 
collection  of  the  quarantine  tax  from  masters,  mates,  and  seamen,  and 
created  a  board  of  trustees,  who  were  charged  with  the  collection  and 
use  of  the  funds  so  procured.  It  was  ascertained  that  up  to  that  time, 
after  deducting  all  that  had  been  expended  for  board,  nursing,  and 
medical  attendance  for  seamen,  there  remained  in  their  favor,  apart 
from  what  had  been  paid  by  passengers  and  expended  for  them,  the 
sum  of  §341,000. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


133 


The  board  of  trustees  named  in  the  act  of  April  22,  1831,  were 
authorized  to  receive  from  the  comptroller  of  the  State  the  unexpended 
balance  of  the  joint  fund  in  his  hands,  which  then  amounted  to  k12,1!)~, 
and  were  also  authorized  to  establish  with  this  fund  a  hospital  for  the 
exclusive  use  of  seamen,  the  quarantine  tax  on  seafaring-  men  to  be 
appropriated  for  its  support.  On  the  9th  of  May.  1831,  the  first  meet- 
ing- of  the  board  was  held  at  the  office  of  the  mayor.  The  board 
consisted  of  Walter  Bowne,  mayor  and  president  ;  Captain  John 
Whetton,  president  of  the  Marine  Society  ;  Captain  Alexander  Thomp- 
son, president  of  the  Nautical  Society  ;  Najah  Taylor,  president  of  the 
Seamen's  Savings  Bank,  and  Dr.  John  S.  "Westervelt,  health  officer 
and  acting  secretary.  At  that  meeting  Captains  James  Morgan,  James 
Webb,  J.  R.  Skiddy,  Henry  Russell,  and  Reuben  Brumley  were 
elected  associate  trustees.  Dr.  Peter  S.  Townsend,  of  New  York,  was 
subsequently  elected  resident  physician  to  the  institution,  which  was 
denominated  The  Seamen's  Retreat  Hospital.  At  a  subsequent 
meeting  Samuel  Swart  wont,  collector  of  the  port,  was  chosen  presi- 
dent, and  Captain  Morgan  appointed  secretary. 

The  trustees  bought  forty  acres  of  land  on  the  north  side  of  Staten 
Island,  on  the  road  between  Clifton  and  Stapleton,  on  which  was  a 
farmhouse,  for  $10,000.  In  that  farmhouse  the  first  patients  were 
cared  for,  but  it  very  soon  was  entirely  inadequate,  for  all  seamen  then 
in  the  Marine  Hospital  at  Staten  Island  and  in  the  City  Hospital  in 
Xew  York,  at  the  charge  of  the  health  commissioners,  were  to  be  sent 
to  the  retreat.  A  building  was  speedily  erected,  and  yet  there  were 
inadequate  accommodations  for  the  continually  increasing  applicants, 
and  the  corner-stone  of  a  new  building  was  laid  on  July  ±,  ISM.  In 
1*42  the  erection  of  another  building  Avas  begun,  and  the  imposing- 
structures  now  seen  there  were  soon  completed. 

There  was  in  the  retreat  a  circulating  library  of  many  hundred  vol- 
umes, and  the  American  Bible  Society  furnished  Bibles  and  Testaments 
in  almost  every  written  language.  There  thousands  of  seamen,  disabled 
by  age  or  disease,  found  a  home.  If  any  preferred  it,  he  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  Sailors'  Snug  Harbor,  or  sent,  at  the  expense  of  the 
trustees,  to  his  home  and  friends,  however  distant.  At  the  western 
end  of  the  grounds  was  a  cemetery,  where  the  wearied  bodies  were  laid 
at  rest  forever. 

The  Hon.  Clarkson  Crohus,  Jr.,  was,  for  nearly  thirty  yeare,  an 
active  trustee  of  the  Seamen's  Retreat,  and  was  its  last  president. 
The  retreat  was  closed,  by  order  of  the  Legislature,  on  July  31,  1882, 
because  the  hospital  was  not  self-supporting.    On  the  grounds  is  the 


134 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Mariners'1  Family  Asylum,  which  is  continued.  The  hospital  property 
is  valued  at  §200,000.  The  proceeds  of  its  sale  are  to  be  equally 
divided  between  the  Family  Asylum,  the  Marine  Society  of  New  York, 
and  the  Seamen's  Orphan  Society  of  New  York.  lt  Sammy,"  the  old 
gatekeeper,  who  had  been  at  his  post  for  forty-three  years,  was  sent  to 
the  Sailors1  Snug  Harbor,  and  the  patients  to  other  hospitals. 

In  1828  an  important  movement  was  made  in  New  York,  in  the 
interest  of  commerce,  morals,  and  humanity.  So  much  does  the  safety 
of  property  committed  to  the  care  of  seamen  depend  upon  their  moral 
character,  that  the  merchants  and  others  perceived,  with  ever-increas- 
ing  anxiety,  the  low  state  of  morals  among  that  class  of  men,  then  so 
numerous  in  connection  with  the  mercantile  marine  of  New  York. 
Society  was  to  blame  for  their  degradation,  for  society  almost  entirely 
neglected  them.  In  1828  a  Skamkx's  Friend  Society  was  organized  in 
New  York,  the  avowed  object  of  which  was  4'  to  improve  the  social 
and  moral  condition  of  seamen  by  uniting  the  efforts  of  the  wise  and 
good  in  their  behalf  ;  by  promoting  in  every  port  boarding-houses  of 
good  character,  savings  banks,  register-offices,  libraries,  museums, 
reading-rooms,  and  schools,  and  also  the  ministration  of  the  gospel  and 
other  religious  blessings.'"  * 

Early  in  1N2.">  the  liev.  .John  Truax  began  the  publication  of  the 
Mariixrs  Mtujazine  in  New  York.  He  advocated  the  formation  of  a 
national  society  for  the  benefit  of  seamen.  This  led  to  the  assembling 
at  the  City  Hotel  (October  2">,  1825)  of  clergymen  of  the  various 
churches  in  New  York,  and  a  large  number  of  other  citizens — mer- 

*  So  early  (is  the  year  1812  a  Society — probably  the  first  in  the  world— was  formed  in 
Boston,  called  "  The  Roston  Society  for  the  Religious  and  Moral  Improvement  of  Sea- 
men." In  1S1G  meetings  to  consider  and  provide  for  the  spiritual  wants  of  seamen  were 
begun  in  New  York,  in  the  Rrick  (Presbyterian)  Church,  then  occupying  the  point  of  land 
at  the  junction  of  Nassau  Street  and  Park  Row,  and  subsequently  in  other  churches. 
In  1817  a  "  Marine  Rible  Society,"  designed  to  furnish  sailors  with  the  Scriptures,  was 
formed,  and  the  next  year  the  "  Society  for  Promoting  the  Gospel  among  Seamen  in  the 
Port  of  New  York,"  more  familiarly  known  as  "  The  Port  Society,"  was  formed. 

Under  the  auspices  of  the  last-named  society  was  erected  the  first  Mariners'  Church 
ever  built,  it  is  supposed.  It  was  in  Roosevelt  Street,  near  the  East  River,  and  was  dedi- 
cated in  June,  1820.  Rev.  Ward  Stafford,  its  projector,  was  its  pastor.  In  1821  "  The 
New  York  Rethel  Union,"  with  the  good  Divie  Rethune  as  its  president,  was  organized. 

Almost  simultaneously  with  these  movements  in  New  York  for  ministering  to  the 
spiritual  and  intellectual  wants  of  seamen,  similar  organizations  were  effected  at  Phila- 
delphia (1810),  at  Savannah  (1821),  Portland  and  New  Orleans  (1823),  New  Bedford  and 
Norfolk  (1825),  and  at  other  places.  So  early  as  1825  there  existed  in  the  United  States 
seventy  Bethel  Unions,  thirty-three  Marine  Bible  Societies,  and  fifteen  churches  and 
floating  chapels  for  the  benefit  of  seamen.  The  Bethel  flag  had  circumnavigated  the 
globe. 


CHURCHES  and  HOSPITALS 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


135 


chants  and  others.  Other  meeting's  were  held,  and  the  subject  contin- 
ued to  l)c  discussed,  when,  on  May  5,  1828,  Tijk  American  Seamen's 
Friend  Society  was  organized,  with  the  Hon.  Smith  Thompson, 
ex-Secretary  of  the  Navy,  as  president;  Rev.  Charles  P.  Mcllvaine 
(afterward  bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  Ohio),  corresponding  secretary  ; 
Philip  Flagler,  recording  secretary  ;  Silas  Holmes,  treasurer,  and  Rev. 
Joshua  Leavitt,  general  agent. 

The  institution  of  foreign  agencies  was  almost  immediately  begun, 
and  now  they  exist  in  almost  every  important  seaport  in  the  world. 
The  first  agent  sent  to  China  was  the  Rev.  David  Abeel,  and  at  about 
the  same  time  agents  were  sent  to  the  Sandwich  Islands,  France,  anil 
elsewhere.  The  Sailors'  Magazine  (yet  published)  was  started  the 
same  year.  In  1820  a  seamen's  savings  hank  was  started,  and  the 
same  year  a  home  for  colored  seamen  was  established.  The  society 
was  incorporated  in  L833. 

In  1842  a  home  was  opened  for  white  sailors,  at  No.  100  Cherry 
Street,  and  there  many  thousand  seamen  have  found  the  comforts 
which  its  name  implies.  It  has  a  good  reading-room  and  museum, 
bathing  facilities,  and  excellent  sleeping-rooms.  There  is  a  clothing- 
store  in  the  basement,  and  a  seamen's  exchange  near  by.  This  home 
and  the  legal  restrictions  which  now  hed«;e  the  sailor  boardino-diouses 
have  transformed  these  traditional  dens  of  moral  pollution  and  financial 
swindling  into  comparatively  decent  houses  of  entertainment.  During 
the  year  ending  May,  1882,  it  had  accommodated  one  thousand  nine 
hundred  and  fifty-eight  boarders.  From  the  date  of  its  opening  there 
had  boarded  and  lodged  there  one  hundred  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  ten  seamen,  and  the  amount  saved  by  it  to  seamen  and  their  rela- 
tives whose  funds  had  been  cared  for  was,  during  the  thirty-nine  years, 
more  than  $1,500,000.  There  shipwrecked  sailors  are  cheerfully  pro- 
vided for. 

The  fifty-fourth  annual  report  of  the  society  (May,  1882)  exhibited 
the  institution  in  a  healthful  state,  and  vigorously  engaged  in  its  noble 
work,  with  an  efficient  corps  of  officers,  composed  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Navy,  admirals,  commanders,  and  captains  of  the  United  States 
Navy,  clergymen,  and  others." 

The  society  has  now  active  agents  in  the  Bermudas  ;  at  Bangkok, 
Siam  :  Bon  Esperance,  on  the  coast  of  Labrador  ;  Honolulu  ;  ports  in 
Sweden.   Norway,  and  Denmark  ;    Hamburg,   Antwerp,  Marseilles, 

*  The  officers  for  1882-83  are  :  Richard  Buck,  president  ;  Horace  Gray,  Henry  A. 
Hnrlbert,  and  twenty-four  others,  vice-presidents  ;  Rev.  Samuel  H.  Hall,  D.D.,  secre- 
tary ;  William  C.  Sturges,  treasurer,  and  L.  P.  Hubbard,  financial  agent. 


13G 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Geneva,  Naples  ;  Yokohama,  Japan  ;  Valparaiso,  Chili  ;  and  at  the 
principal  Atlantic  and  Pacific  seaports  of  the  United  States. 

For  a  quarter  of  a  century  the  society  has  furnished  private  and 
national  vessels  with  loan  libraries  for  the  use  of  seamen.  These  con- 
tain about  thirty-six  volumes  each,  a  feAV  of  them  in  the  Danish, 
French,  Spanish,  and  Italian  languages.  During  the  year  ending 
May,  there  had  been  sent  to  sea  from  the  rooms  of  the  society  in 

New  York  and  Boston  eight  hundred  and  twelve  libraries,  containing 
an  a^-y-rey-ate  of  sixteen  thousand  five1  hundred  and  twelve  volumes. 

These  brief  notices  of  institutions  which  have  originated  and  arc 
carried  on  in  the  city  of  New  York  in  behalf  of  seafaring  men  reveal 
the  vast  benevolent  operations  of  the  noble  work  that  is  done  in  the 
commercial  metropolis  of  the  Republic  for  the  class  of  men  upon  whose 
good  services  so  much  of  its  material  prosperity  depends. 

The  Orphan  Asylum  Society  in  the  Cm  of  Kkw  York  is  the  oldest 
of  its  class  in  the  Fnited  States,  having  been  organized  in  the  spring  of 
180(5.  It  was  founded  by  a  few  benevolent  persons,  chiefly  women, 
among  whom  Isabella  Graham,  a  widow,  and  one  of  the  most  saintly 
benefactors  ever  known,  was  conspicuous.  Out  of  her  own  earnings  as 
a  school-teacher  she  had  laid  the  foundation  in  the  city  of  Edinburgh 
of  the  Society  for  the  Relief  of  the  Destitute  Sick,  and,  with  others, 
the  Society  for  the  Relief  of  Poor  Widows  with  Children.  She  came 
to  America  in  17sr>,  on  the  invitation  of  President  Witherspoon  of 
Princeton  College,  and  opened  a  small  school  in  the  city  of  New  York', 
where  her  second  daughter  married  Divie  Bethune,  a  prosperous  young 
merchant,  father  of  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Bethune.* 

The  Orphan  Society  was  organized  at  the  City  Hotel  in  April,  1m»7. 
and  the  continuance  and  support  of  the  Society  for  the  Relief  of  Poor 
Widows  with  Children  was  a  chief  element  in  insuring  it  success. 

At  first  a  temporary  home  for  the  wards  of  the  society  was  procured 
in  Greenwich  Village,  and  a  pious  man  and  his  wife  were  engaged  to 
take  charge  of  and  instruct  the  orphan  children.  In  the  spring  of  1  so 7 
the  society  obtained  a  charter  from  the  Legislature,  bearing  date  April 

*  Isabella  Graham  was  born  in  Lanarkshire,  Scotland,  in  1742.  Her  maiden  name  was 
Marshall.  She  married  Dr.  John  Graham,  an  army  surgeon,  and  accompanied  him  to 
Canada  in  17C5.  She  resided  there  several  years,  and  accompanied  her  husband  to  the 
island  of  Antigua,  where  he  died.  She  returned  to  Scotland  with  three  infant  daughters 
and  a  son,  where  she  supported  her  family  by  teaching  school  until  she  came  to  America. 
At  her  house  in  New  York,  in  1796,  was  formed  the  "  Society  for  the  Relief  of  Poor 
Widows  with  Children."  She  was  one  of  the  chief  founders  of  the  "  Orphan  Asylum" 
and  "  The  Magdalen  Society."  Her  ministrations  to  the  poor  continued  until  her  death, 
in  1814. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


137 


7,  1807.  It  was  allowed  to  hold  real  and  personal  estate  to  an  amount 
not  exceeding  $100,000.  This  charter  expired  in  182!),  and  was 
renewed.    It  was  again  renewed  in  1860  for  twenty  years. 

At  the  first  annual  meeting,  at  the  City  Hotel,  in  the  spring  of  1807, 
about  twenty  of  its  wards  were  present.  Then  the  society  resolved  to 
purchase  lots  and  erect  a  building.  On  four  lots  in  Greenwich  the 
corner-stone  of  a  building  fifty  feet  square,  to  accommodate  two  hun- 
dred children,  was  laid.  It  was  of  brick,  and  the  funds  for  its  erection 
($15,000)  was  contributed  by  generous  citizens.  A  bequest  by  Philip 
Jacobs  in  1833  laid  the  foundation  of  the  present  prosperity  of  the 
society. 

The  accommodations  at  Greenwich  being  too  limited,  nine  and  a  half 
acres  of  land  were  purchased  at  one  of  the  most  beautiful  situations  on 
the  banks  of  the  Hudson  River,  live  miles  from  the  City  Hall.  There 
the  corner-stone  of  the  new  building  was  laid,  in  June,  1836,  Within 
a  year  afterward  it  was  opened  for  the  entrance  of  the  orphans.  The 
building  cost  more  than  $45,000,  all  contributed  by  generous  individ- 
uals, neither  the  State  nor  the  city  having  given  anything.  During  its 
life  of  little  more  than  thirty  years  nearly  a  thousand  orphans  had 
enjoyed  its  sheltering  care.  Of  these,  four  hundred  and  seven  boys  had 
been  apprenticed  to  mechanics  and  fanners,  and  two  hundred  and 
seventy  girls  as  servants  in  private  families. 

The  grounds  are  beautifully  laid  out  in  lawns  and  gardens,  and  fur- 
nish ample  pasture  for  cows  to  supply  the  little  ones  with  milk.  The 
inmates  are  educated,  clothed,  and  boarded,  and  have  moral  and  relig- 
ious advantages  while  thev  remain  in  the  institution. 

This  most  excellent  retreat  for  orphans  is  managed  by  a  board  of 
directors  and  seventeen  trustees,  all  women."  The  schools  are  graded, 
and  the  elements  of  an  English  education  are  thoroughly  taught.  On 
April  1,  188:2,  there  were  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  orphans  in  the 
asylum,  of  whom  one  hundred  and  eight  were  boys. 

In  the  half  decade  preceding  the  year  1830  there  were  in  the  city  of 
New  York  a  County  Medical  Society,  a  College  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons,  and  for  a  while  an  institution  known  as  Rutgers  Medical 
College. 

The  Nkw  York  Counts  Medical  Society  was  organized  under  a  gen- 
es o 

*  Tho  board  of  direction  in  1882  consisted  of  :  Mrs.  Jonathan  Odell,  first  directress  ; 
Mrs.  M.  L.  E.  Satterlee,  second  directress  ;  Mrs.  Janet  T.  Sherman,  treasurer  ;  Mrs. 
K.  Id  Blatchford.  recording  secretary  :  Mrs.  J.  G.  Smedberg,  financial  secretary.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  George  E.  Dunlop  arc  the  superintendents,  and  John  L.  Campbell,  M.D., 
physician. 


138 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


eral  State  law  for  the  incorporation  of  medical  societies,  in  the  "  front 
court-room"  of  the  old  City  Hall,  in  "Wall  Street,  on  the  first  day  of 
July,  1S06.  There  were  present  at  the  meeting  one  hundred  and  four 
physicians  and  surgeons.  Dr.  Nicholas  Romayne  was  appointed  chair- 
man, and  Dr.  Valentine  Seaman  was  chosen  secretary.  After  having 
duly  organised  a  society.  Dr.  Romayne  was  chosen  its  president,  Dr. 
James  Tillary  vice-president.  Dr.  Edward  Miller  secretary,  and  Dr. 
Valentine  Seaman  treasurer.*  The  society  (now  ninety-seven  years 
of  age)  is  composed  of  resident,  non-resident,  and  honorary  members. 
The  governor  of  the  State  of  New  York  and  the  mayor  of  the  city  of 
New  York  are  honorary  members  ex-afficio. 

The  objects  of  the  society  are  to  aid  in  regulating  the  practice  of 
medicine  and  surgery,  and  to  contribute  to  the  diffusion  of  true  science, 
particularly  the  knowledge  of  the  healing  art.  The  society  has  power 
to  examine  students  and  to  grant  a  license  to  practice  to  such  as  may 
be  found  qualified. 

In  1  si »;  the  society  adopted  a  rate  of  charges,  which  possesses  a  curi- 
ous interest  now.  The  charges  for  services  in  eighty-one  specific  cases 
were  determined.  The  lowest  charge  for  medical  and  surgical  service 
was  si  ;  the  highest,  §2oo.  An  ordinary  visit  was  §2  ;  for  verbal 
advice,  §5  ;  for  letter  of  advice,  §10  to  §15  ;  a  night  visit.  §7  ;  a  visit 
to  Staten  Island  in  summer.  §10,  and  in  winter  or  stormy  weather, 
§20.  For  vaccination,  §5  to  §10  ;  operation  for  cataract,  §150,  and 
for  carotid,  subclavian,  inguinal,  and  external  iliac  troubles,  §200. 

From  the  beginning  the  society  took  an  exalted  position  as  to  profes- 
sional character,  and  has  always  maintained  it.  It  also  assumed  a 
proper  spirit  of  independence  when  the  State  Medical  Society,  at  the 
outset,  asserted  its  right  to  regulate  the  policy  of  the  county  societies. 
The  influence  of  this  society  in  pursuit  of  its  avowed  purposes  has  been 
wide  and  most  salutary.    At  first  the  society  had  only  one  representa- 

*  A  State  Medical  Society  bad  been  organized  in  a  room  of  tbe  City  Hall  on  the  even- 
ing of  November  14,  1794,  by  Drs.  John  Charlton.  Thomas  Jones,  Samuel  Bard,  Malachi 
Treat,  Richard  Bayley,  S.  Fougeras,  James  Tillary,  Samnel  Nicoll,  A.  Bainbridge,  David 
Breeks,  W.  P.  Smith,  J.  Gainage,,  William  Hammersley.  John  Onderdonk,  George 
Anthon,  J.  R.  B.  Rodgers,  W.  Post,  and  William  Laramie.  At  a  subsequent  meeting  it 
was  unanimously  agreed  that  Drs.  Edward  Stevens,  Joseph  Youle,  and  David  Hosack  be 
considered  as  original  members  of  the  society. 

Dr.  John  Charlton  was  elected  president  of  the  society,  Dr.  Thomas  Jones  vice- 
president,  Dr.  William  P.  Smith  treasurer.  Dr.  John  R.  B.  Rodgers,  secretary,  and 
Drs.  Samuel  Bard,  Malachi  Treat,  Richard  Bayley,  and  Samuel  Nicoll,  censors. 

The  original  minutes  of  this  society  are  in  the  custody  of  the  New  York  Academy  of 
Medicine. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


139 


tive  at  the  sessions  of  the  State  Medical  Society  ;  it  now  (1883)  has 
twenty -one  representatives  in  that  body. 

The  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  was  founded  in  1807. 
The  institution  received  its  charter  from  the  regents  of  the  University 
of  the  State  of  New  York,  pursuant  to  an  act  of  the  Legislature  passed 
March  4.  1791.  The  charter  is  dated  March  1l>,  1807.  The  officers 
were  elected  in  May  following,  when  Dr.  Nicholas  Roniayne  was 
chosen  president.* 

The  first  coarse  of  lectures  in  the  college  was  began  on  November  7, 
1807,  in  a  small  building,  two  stories  in  height,  on  Robinson  Street,  in 
rear  of  the  City  Hospital.  At  about  the  close  of  the  session  the  college 
received  an  endowment  of  820,000,  when  a  building  on  Pearl  Street 
was  purchased.  It  Avas  formally  opened  for  the  reception  of  students 
in  November,  ISoS.  The  whole  number  of  students  that  attended  the 
lirst  year  was  fifty-three. 

The  institution  soon  began  to  experience  vicissitudes.  Its  very 
existence  was  menaced  with  destruction.  It  was  saved  by  the  wisdom 
and  energ\r  of  the  regents  of  the  University. 

So  early  as  the  year  1S11  there  was  such  grave  misunderstanding  be- 
tween the  president  and  the  faculty  that  the  regents  were  compelled  to 
interfere.  They  made  important  changes  in  the  faculty  and  in  the 
internal  arrangements  of  the  college.  President  Romayne  retired,  and 
the  venerable*  Dr.  Samuel,  Hard,  then  nearly  seventy  years  of  age, 
became  the  head  of  the  college.  At  about  the  same  time  power  was 
granted  to  the  college  to  confer  medical  degrees. 

The  first  medical  commencement  was  held  on  the  15th  of  May,  1811, 
when  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  was  conferred  upon  eight  grad- 
uates. It  was  a  greater  number  of  degrees  in  medicine  than  had  ever 
before  been  conferred  at  one  time.  Not  more  than  twenty  graduates 
of  the  medical  school  of  Columbia  College  had  received  the  degree  in 
thirty  years. 

*  Nicholas  Bornayne,  M.D.,  was  born  in  Hackensack,  X.  J.,  in  September,  17oC,  and 
studied  medicine  under  Dr.  Peter  Wilson.  He  completed  his  medical  education  at 
Edinburgh  in  1780,  and  became  professor  o£  the  institutes  of  medicine  and  forensic 
medicine  in  Queen's  (now  Rutgers)  College,  New  Jersey.  Before  he  returned  from 
Europe  he  spent  two  years  in  Paris,  and  also  visited  Leyden.  He  began  his  profes- 
sional career  in  New  York  after  leaving  Queen's  College.  He  became  professor  of  the 
practice  of  physic,  anatomy,  and  chemistry  in  Columbia  College  on  its  reorganization  in 
1784,  and  gave  private  lectures  on  anatomy.  Dr.  Romayne  was  the  first  president  of  the 
New  York  City  Medical  Society  1800,  president  of  the  New  York  State  Medical  Society 
1806-10,  and  in  1807  was  chosen  the  first  president  of  the  College  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons.    Dr.  Romayne  died  in  New  York  of  apoplexy,  in  July,  1817. 


140 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


In  1813  the  medical  department  of  Colombia  College  was  discon- 
tinued. The  regents  of  the  University,  so  early  as  1811,  had  recom- 
mended the  union  of  the  two  schools.  It  was  effected  in  March,  1814, 
when  the  new  organization  took  possession  of  a  commodious  building 
on  the  north  side  of  Barclay  Street,  near  Broadway. 

This  alliance  was  of  short  duration.  Soon  after  the  union  some  of 
the  faculty  of  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  withdrew,  and 
formed  a  new  medical  school  under  the  authority  of  Queen's  (now 
Rutgers)  College,  in  Xew  Jersey.  It  was  called  the  New  Medical 
Institution,  but  was  generally  known  as  Rutgers  Medical  College  of 
New  York.  It  took  possession  of  a  large  building  on  Duane  Street. 
It  was  short-lived,  expiring  in  1816. 

At  this  crisis  in  its  affairs  the  regents  of  the  University  reorganized 
the  college  under  an  entirely  new  charter,  which  gave  the  management 
to  a  board  of  twenty-five  trustees,  whose  tenure  of  office  was  subject  to 
the  will  of  the  regents  themselves.  Finally,  dissensions  between  the 
Medical  Society  of  the  County  of  New  York  and  the  College  of 
Physicians  and  Surgeons,  which  had  prevailed  more  or  less  from  the 
beginning,  became  very  exciting  in  1821,  and  there  was  consequently 
such  discord  between  the  trustees  and  the  faculty  of  the  College  of 
Physicians  and  Surgeons  that  the  latter  all  resigned  in  April,  1826,  and 
soon  afterward  revived  the  "  New  Medical  Institution"  under  the 
auspices  of  Queen's  College.  The  leading  professors  in  the  revived 
institution  were  Drs.  David  Ilosack,  William  J.  Macneven.  Valentine 
Mott.  John  \V.  Francis,  John  I).  Codman,  and  John  Griscom,  LL.D. 
This,  too.  was  short-lived.  The  faculty  soon  abandoned  the  contest, 
and  the  institution  was  closed. 

By  a  new  provision  in  the  constitution,  the  faculty  of  the  college 
were  excluded  from  seats  in  the  board  of  trustees.  In  November,  1837, 
the  colle<re  removed  from  Barclav  Street  to  Crosby  Street,  where  its 
sessions  were  held  until  the  inauguration  of  its  present  home,  on  the 
north-east  corner  of  Twenty-third  Street  and  Fourth  Avenue,  January 
22,  ls.">»',.  In  June,  isiio,  the  institution  was  constituted  the  medical 
department  of  Columbia  College,  and  now  (1883)  bears  the  title  of 
"  The  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  in  the  City  of  New  York — 
Medical  Department  of  Columbia  College."*  Much  of  the  instruction 
in  this  college  is  given  in  different  large  hospitals  in  the  city. 

*  The  officers  of  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  in  1883  were  :  Alonzo  Clark, 
M.D.,  LL.D.,  president  ;  Willard  Parker,  M.D.,  LL.D.,  vice-president  ;  Ellsworth  Eliot. 
M.D.,  registrar  ;  John  Sherwood,  treasurer.  There  are  twenty-two  trustees.  Its  medi- 
cal faculty  consists  of  twenty-five  physicians. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1800-1840. 


141 


In  the  year  1802  an  association  was  formed  in  New  York  for  the 
purpose  of  substituting-  the  kine-pox  for  the  small-pox  by  vaccination, 
as  a  safeguard  against  the  ravages  of  the  latter.  The  preventive 
method  had  already  become  quite  popular  in  Boston,  where  the  indom- 
itable Dr.  "Waterhouse,  professor  in  Harvard  College,  satisfied  with  the 
utility  and  consequent  blessings  of  Jenner's  discovery,  had  urged  the 
practice  so  vigorously  and  persistently  that  he  was  styled  the  Ameri- 
can Jenner. 

During  the  first  year  after  the  establishment  of  the  kine-pox  insti- 
tution in  New  York  fully  five  hundred  children  were  vaccinated. 
Very  early  in  the  history  of  vaccination  in  the  city  it  was  placed  under 
the  direction  of  the  City  Dispensary,  and  all  applicants  were  gratui- 
tously vaccinated.  The  corporation  appropriated  $000  a  year  for  that 
purpose. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE  most  prominent  institutions  existing  in  the  city  of  New  York 
about  the  year  18.30,  which  had  been  established  for  the  promo- 
tion of  intellectual  and  moral  cultivation — literary,  scientific,  and 
artistic — were  Columbia  College,  New  York  Society  Library,  General 
Society  of  Mechanics  and  Tradesmen,  New  York  Historical  Society, 
New  York  Typographical  Society,  New  York  Mercantile  Library  Asso- 
ciation, Lyceum  of  Natural  History,  New  York  Athenaeum,  Literary 
and  Philosophical  Society,  American  Academy  of  Fine  Arts,  and  the 
National  Academy  of  the  Arts  of  Design. 

The  germ  of  Columbia  College  mav  be  found  in  the  records  of 
Trinity  Church  at  the  beginning  of  the  last  century.  At  what  time 
the  first  movement  in  that  direction  by  the  vestry  of  the  church  had 
taken  place  cannot  be  determined.  In  17<»3  the  rector  and  wardens 
were  directed  to  wait  on  the  governor  of  the  province,  Lord  Corn- 
bury,  "  to  know  what  part  of  the  King's  Farm  then  vested  in  Trinity 
Church  bad  been  intended  for  the  college  which  he  designed  to  have 
built." 

Wben  Bishop  Berkeley  was  in  this  country,  nearly  thirty  years  after- 
ward, the  project  of  a  college  at  New  York,  which  had  slumbered  all 
that  time,  was  revived.  Berkeley  was  disappointed  in  regard  to  the 
establishment  of  an  institution  of  learning  in  the  Bermudas,  and 
resolved  to  transfer  his  intended  establishment  to  "  some  place  on  the 
American  continent,  which  would  probably  have  been  New  York."* 

In  1740  the  Colonial  Assembly  authorized  the  collection  of  money,  by 
lottery  or  otherwise,  for  the  purpose  of  founding  a  college  in  the  city  of 
New  York.  About  §17,500  was  raised,  chiefly  in  England.  This  sum 
was  vested,  in  1751,  in  ten  trustees,  seven  of  whom  were  members  of 
the  Anglican  Church,  and  some  of  them  vestrymen  of  Trinity  Church. 
Two  of  them  were  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church,  and  one  a  Presby- 
terian. A  lot  west  of  Broadway,  bounded  by  Barclay,  Church,  and 
Murray  streets  and  the  Hudson  River,  was  given  from  the  "  Church. 


*  Chandler's  ' '  Life  of  Johnson. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


143 


Farm"  for  the  use  of  the  college,  and  on  October  31,  1754,  it  was  in- 
corporated under  the  title  of  King's  College. 

The  predominance  of  Episcopalians  in  the  board  of  trustees  of  King's 
College,  and  the  opposition  to  any  church  establishment  in  the  prov- 
ince, evoked  the  strong  displeasure  of  the  dissenting  churches  in  the 
city,  and  for  a  long  time  the  college  had  a  severe  struggle  for  existence. 
The  Rev.  Samuel  Johnson,  D.D.,  of  Connecticut,  was  chosen  president, 
with  an  assistant,  and  in  July,  1754,  he  opened  the  school  with  eight 
pupils,*  in  the  vestry-room  of  the  schoolhouse  belonging  to  Trinity 
Church.  The  college  was  not  really  organized  before  May,  1755, 
when  at  a  meeting  of  more  than  twenty  of  the  gentlemen  who  had 
been  named  in  the  charter  as  governors,  the  deputy  secretary  of  the 
province  (Goldsbrow  Banyar)  attending  with  the  charter,  Lieutenant- 
Governor  James  De  Lancey,  after  a  suitable  address,  delivered  it  to 
these  gentlemen.  Then  Mr.  Horsmanden,  one  of  the  judges  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  administered  to  them  the  oath  required  by  law  to  be 
taken.  The  governors  named  in  the  charter  were  :  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  and  the  first  Land  Commissioner  for  Trade  and  Planta- 
tions, who  were  empowered  to  act  by  proxy  ;  the  lieutenant-governor 
;;nil  eomniander-in-chief  of  the  Province  of  New  York,  the  eldest  coun- 
cillor of  the  province,  the  secretary,  attorney-general,  speaker  of  the 
General  Assembly  and  treasurer  of  the  province,  the  mayor  of  the  city 
of  New  York,  the  rector  of  Trinity  Church,  the  senior  minister  of  the 
Reformed  Protestant  Dutch  Church,  the  ministers  of  the  Ancient 
Lutheran  Church,  of  the  French  Church,  of  the  Presbyterian  Congrega- 
tion of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  the  president  of  the  college — all 
these  ex  officio.  Twenty-four  principal  gentlemen  of  the  city  were  also 
named  as  governors.  These  were  Archibald  Kennedy,  Joseph  Murray, 
Josiah  Martin.  Paul  Richard,  Henry  Cruger,  William  Walton,  John 
Watts,  Henry  Beekman,  Philip  Verplanck,  Frederick  Philipse,  Joseph 
Robinson,  John  Cruger,  Oliver  De  Lancey,  James  Livingston,  Benjamin 
Nicoll,  William  Livingston,  Joseph  Read,  Nathaniel  Marston,  Joseph 
llaynes,  John  Livingston,  Abraham  Lodge,  David  Clarkson,  Leonard 
Lispenard,  and  -lames  De  Lancey. 

The  conditions  of  the  gift  of  land  by  Trinity  Church  required  that 
the  president  of  the  college  should  be  forever,  at  the  time  being,  in 
communion  with  the  Church  of  England,  and  that  morning  and  even- 

*  Samuel  Verplanck,  Rudolph  Ritzema,  Philip  Van  Cortlandt,  Robert  Bayard,  Samuel 
Provoost,  Thomas  Martin,  Henry  Cruger,  and  Joshua  Bloom.  Several  of  these  were  after, 
ward  distinguished  in  the  history  of  New  York  City. 


144 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YOKK  CITY. 


ing  service  in  the  college  should  he  the  liturgy  of  that  church,  or  a 
collection  of  prayers  from  that  liturgy.  These  restrictions  excited  the 
most  furious  opposition,  especially  among  those  who  wished  to  have 

"  A  church  without  a  bishop, 
A  state  without  a  king." 

But  the  liberal  policy  of  the  college  soon  allayed  these  prejudices  in  a 
degree.  A  professorship  in  divinity,  "  according  to  the  doctrine,  disci- 
pline, and  worship  established  by  the  National  Synod  of  Dort,"  was 
almost  immediately  established. 

College  buildings  were  begun  in  1  <">(!,  and  completed  in  17<io.  They 
stood  on  the  brow  of  an  eminence  overlooking  the  Hudson  River,  at 
the  foot  of  (present)  Park  Place,  at  Church  Street. 

A  grammar  school  was  established  in  17<i:>.  The  same  year,  on  the 
resignation  of  Dr.  Johnson,  the  Pev.  Myles  Cooper,  of  Oxford,  Eng- 
land, took  his  place.  Meanwhile  the  annual  commencements  had  been 
held  in  St.  George's  Chapel  in  Beekman  Street. 

In  17<57  the  province  granted  the  college  twenty -four  thousand  acres 
of  land  on  the  east  side  of  Lake  Champlain,  hut  being  within  the 
bounds  of  what  was  afterward  Vermont,  this  property  Avas  lost. 

In  the  summer  of  17<>7  a  medical  school  was  established,  at  the  sug- 
gestion of  Dr.  Clossy,  a  learned  tutor  of  the  institution  from  Dublin, 
His  views  were  warmly  seconded  by  Drs.  Middleton,  Jones,  Smith, 
Hard,  and  Tennent,  and  these  were  all  appointed  to  professorships  in 
the  school. 

When  the  quarrel  between  the  British  Government  and  the  American 
colonies  waxed  warm,  Dr.  Cooper  took  a  very  active  part,  by  speech 
and  pen,  in  favor  of  the  crown.  The  war  of  words  was  fierce.  The 
doctor  wielded  a  keen  blade.  His  competitors  were  strong,  but  h(i  was 
worsted  in  argument  by  an  anonymous  competitor,  who  proved  to  be 
one  of  his  own  pupils,  Alexander  Hamilton,  one  of  the  younger 
students. 

Dr.  Cooper's  course  greatly  offended  the  patriots,  and  the  college 
was  regarded  as  a  focus  of  Toryism.  Finally  the  public  exasperation 
culminated  in  a  mob,  which  broke  into  the  college  on  the  night  of  May 
10,  1775,  and  sought  his  room.  Fortunately  for  him,  he  had  been  fore- 
warned, and.  half  dressed,  he  escaped  over  the  college  fence  and  found 
refuge  with  a  friend  in  the  suburbs  of  the  city.  The  next  day  he 
reached  permanent  safety  on  hoard  the  Kingfisher^  a  British  ship-of- 
war,  and  anally  sailed  for  England,  when  the  Pev.  Benjamin  Moore,  an 
alumnus  of  the  college  in  1801  (afterward  bishop),  took  his  place  as 
president. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


145 


In  the  spring  of  177»>  the  Committee  of  Safety  took  possession  of  the 
college  and  converted  it  into  a  hospital  for  the  use  of  American  troops. 
The  pupils,  the  apparatus,  and  the  library  were  dispersed.  About  one 
hundred  students  had  been  educated  at  this  college  before  it  was  so 
violently  broken  up.  Among  the  earlier  graduates  were  Robert  R. 
Livingston,  (Jouverneur  Morris,  and  John  Jay. 

From  177<>  to  1784  the  college  was  in  a  state  of  suspended  animation. 
The  war  over,  and  peace  and  independence  secured,  measures  were 
taken  for  its  resuscitation.  In  1784  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New 
York  granted  it  a  new  charter,  under  the  name  of  Columbia  College. 
The  regents  of  the  University  of  the  State  of  New  York,  appointed  by 
the  same  act,  took  it  under  their  control.  The  property  of  the  old 
corporation  was  handed  over  to  the  new  corporation.  It  started  on  its 
new  career  with  De  Witt  Clinton  as  its  first  student — a  junior. 

Owing  to  a  lack  of  funds  to  pay  the  salary  of  a  president,  none  was 
chosen  until  May,  1787,  when  William  Samuel  Johnson,  son  of  the  first 
president  of  King's  College,  was  elected  to  fill  the  place.*  The  scope 
of  instruction  in  the  institution  continually  widened,  and  in  1 7!>2  facili- 
ties for  doing  so  were  increased  by  a  grant  from  the  Legislature  of 
New  York  of  about  $40,000  and  an  annual  appropriation  of  £3750. 

In  1S14  the  Legislature  gave  to  Columbia  College  twenty  acres  of 
land  on  Manhattan  Island,  lying  between  Forty-seventh  and  Fifty-first 
streets,  on  Fifth  Avenue,  "  with  appurtenances."  It  included  two 
hundred  and  sixty  city  lots.  The  tract  was  then  known  as  the  Elgin 
Botanic  Garden,  which  had  been  established  in  1801  by  Dr.  David 
llosaok  for  the  uses  of  his  classes  in  the  college  in  the  study  of  botany, 
he  being  one  of  the  professors  of  that  institution.  This  land  had  been 
recently  conveyed  to  the  State  by  Dr.  Hosack,  and  reconvened  to  the 
college  in  compensation  for  its  loss  of  the  land  in  Vermont.  The  gift 
was  overburdened  with  restrictions,  which  imposed  the  necessity  of 

*  William  Samuel  Johnson,  LL.D.,  D.C.L.,  F. U.S.,  first  president  of  Columbia  College, 
was  born  at  Stratford,  Connecticut,  in  October,  1727,  and  died  there  in  November,  1810. 
He  became  a  distinguished  lawyer,  and  took  part  in  the  political  movements  that  pre- 
ceded the  Revolution  of  1775-83.  He  was  a  delegate  to  the  Stamp  Act  Congress  at  New 
York  in  17P>~>,  and  was  agent  of  Connecticut  in  England  from  170G  to  1771.  He  was  a 
judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Connecticut  from  1772  to  1774,  and  a  commissioner  for 
adjusting  the  controversy  between  Pennsylvania  and  the  Susquehanna  Company.  From 
1784  to  1787  he  was  a  delegate  in  the  Continental  Congress,  and  was  an  active  member 
of  the  convention  that  framed  the  National  Constitution  in  the  summer  of  1787.  The 
same  year  he  was  chosen  president  of  Columbia  College,  and  held  that  position  until  the 
year  1800.  President  Johnson  was  United  States  Senator  from  1789  to  1791,  and  was 
one  of  the  authors  of  the  bill  for  establishing  the  judiciary  system  of  the  United  States. 


146 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


keeping  up  the  garden  as  a  scientific  educator,  and  the  removal  of  the 
college  establishment,  within  twelve  years,  to  these  grounds  or  the 
vicinity.  Non-compliance  with  these  pro  visions  would  cause  a  forfeit- 
ure of  the  property,  when  it  would  revert  to  the  State. 

The  estimated  value  of  the  Botanic  Garden  at  that  time  was  875,000, 
but  the  conditions  made  it  a  pecuniary  burden  instead  of  a  source  of 
income.  Efforts  were  made  to  have  these  restrictions  removed,  and  in 
1815*  their  removal  was  accomplished. 

About  ls^o  Columbia  College  for  the  first  time  had  its  chairs  filled 
with  its  own  alumni.  It  struggled  on.  under  the  disabilities  of  poverty 
and  pecuniary  embarrassments,  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  longer,  but 
still  with  hope,  for  its  property  both  on  the  college  site  and  the  Botanic 
Garden  was  increasing  amazingly  in  value.* 

The  semi-centennial  anniversary  of  the  reorganization  of  Columbia 
College  was  reached  in  1S37,  and  was  celebrated  with  much  parade  and 
solemnity  on  the  13th  of  April.  An  imposing  procession  was  formed 
at  the  college,  composed  of  the  trustees,  the  president,  professors, 
tutors,  alumni,  and  students,  clergymen,  public  officers,  and  dignitaries 
from  other  seats  of  learning  in  the  Republic.  This  procession  was 
formed  on  the  college  green  and  proceeded  to  St.  John's  Chapel,  where 
the  Rev.  Manton  East  burn  pronounced  an  oration,  in  which  he  briefly 
reviewed  the  history  of  the  institution.  A  poem  was  recited,  and  odes 
in  several  languages,  composed  and  arranged  to  music  for  the  occasion, 
were  sung.  The  president  (William  A.  Duer)  conferred  the  honorary 
degree  of  Master  of  Arts  upon  Charles  Eenno  Hoffman,  William  Cullen 
Bryant,  and  Fitz-Greene  Halleck  ;  of  Doctor  of  Laws  on  John  Duer, 
David  B.  Ogden,  and  George  Griffin,  and  Doctor  of  Divinity  on 
several  prominent  clergymen. 

In  the  evening  the  president  <rave  a  reception  at  the  college,  which 
was  brilliantly  illuminated,  and  was  profusely  decorated  with  paintings 
loaned  for  the  occasion,  and  rare  plants  from  various  conservatories. 
It  was  one  of  the  most  striking  fetes  New  York  had  ever  beheld. 

*  The  earliest  detailed  statement  of  the  financial  condition  of  the  college,  after  the 
year  1800,  appears  in  the  minutes  of  the  trustees  in  1805,  when,  from  leases  of  a  portion 
of  the  Church  Farm  given  to  the  college,  it  derived  an  income  of  about  §1400  ;  also 
from  benefactions  about  $4000,  also  from  tuition  fees  about  $9000,  making  an  annual 
revenue  of  little  more  than  $14,000.  Its  income  met  the  expenses  until  1821,  when,  year 
after  year,  there  was  a  deficit  of  several  hundred  dollars,  which  produced  an  accumulating 
debt.  Assessments  for  opening  and  regulating  new  streets  became  an  added  burden  of 
expense,  which,  with  taxes,  amounted  to  $4000  in  1854.  The  Legislature  refused  to 
remit  taxes  on  the  property,  and  for  several  years  the  college  was  a  sufferer  from  the 
increase  in  value  ot  its  own  property. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


147 


In  L857  the  requirements  of  business  caused  the  removal  of  the  college 
to  its  domain  on  Madison  Avenue,  where  it  occupies  a  block  bounded 
by  Madison  and  Fourth  avenues,  between  Forty-ninth  and  Fiftieth 
streets.  The  old  edifices  on  the  tk  Church  Farm"  were  demolished,  and 
their  site  and  the  College  Green  are  now  occupied  by  streets  and 
magnificent  warehouses. 

The  debt  of  the  college  had  increased  to  more  than  §23,000  at  the 
time  of  the  removal,  but  by  the  sale  of  its  property  in  the  lower  part 
of  the  city  and  sixteen  lots  of  the  Botanic  Garden,  all  of  which  had 
risen  enormously  in  value,  it  rapidly  reduced  the  debt,  notwithstand- 
ing its  greatly  increased  expenditures  in  money  and  the  establishment 
of  new  departments.  In  1803,  for  the  first  time  in  twenty  years,  its 
income  was  more  than  its  expenses,  and  in  1872  the  institution  was 
entirely  free  from  debt.    President  Barnard  justly  says  : 

''-If,  therefore,  our  college  is  to  be  called  to  answer  at  the  bar  of 
public  opinion  for  the  use  she  has  made  of  the  means  at  her  command 
in  advancing  the  higher  education,  it  may  fairly  be  claimed  on  her  be- 
half that  the  inquiry  should  not  extend  beyond  the  last  fifteen  years. 
But  within  that  period  she  may  confidently  challenge  any  institution  of 
similar  character,  of  this  country  or  any  other,  to  show  a  more  honor- 
able record."  * 

In  1800  an  arrangement  was  made  by  which  the  College  of  Physi- 
cians and  Surgeons  of  the  City  of  Xew  York  (which  had  been  incorpo- 
rated with  the  Medical  School  of  Columbia  College  in  1813)  was  adopted 
as  the  medical  department  of  the  latter  institution. 

Early  in  1803  Mr.  Thomas  Egleston,  Jr.,  proposed  a  plan  for  the 
establishment  of  a  school  of  mines  and  metallurgy  in  connection  with 
the  college.  It  was  adopted  by  the  trustees,  and  the  school  Avent  into 
operation  in  1S04.  Mr.  Egleston  was  appointed  professor  of  mineralogy 
and  metallurgy,  and  General  Francis  L.  Vinton  professor  of  mining 
engineering.  To  these  professorships  was  added  a  chair  of  analytical 
and  applied  chemistry,  which  was  filled  by  Professor  C.  F.  Chandler. 
This  department  is  a  most  important  addition  to  the  educational  facili- 
ties offered  by  Columbia  College. f 

President  Charles  King  having  resigned  early  in  1804,  the  Rev. 
Frederick  A.  P.  Barnard,  S.T.D.,  was  chosen  to  fill  his  place.  Dr. 
Barnard  has  performed  the  difficult  functions  of  that  exalted  office  with 
signal  fidelity  and  ability  for  nearly  twenty  years.    He  has  had  the 

*  President  Barnard's  "  Annual  Report  made  to  the  Trustees,"  May  1,  1882. 
+  See  "A  Historical  Sketch  of  Columbia  College,  1754-187G,"  by  Professor  J.  H. 
Van  Amrinye,  prepared  at  the  request  of  the  National  Bureau  of  Education. 


148  HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 

supreme  satisfaction  of  seeing-  the  institution  grow  continually  with 
unwonted  and  increasing  vigor,  displaying  under  his  wise  and  efficient 
administration  strength  and  beauty  in  every  part  of  its  economy.41' 

*  Frederick  Augustus  Porter  Barnard,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  S.T.D.,  was  born  in  Sheffield. 
Mass  ,  May  5,  1809.  He  is  a  lineal  descendant  in  the  seventh  generation  of  Francis 
Barnard,  of  Coventry,  Warwickshire,  England,  who  came  to  Massachusetts  Bay  in  1C3G, 
and  afterward  settled  first  at  Hartford,  Conn.,  and  then  at  Hadley,  Mass.  His  mother 
was  descended  in  the  eighth  generation  from  John  Porter,  of  Warwickshire,  who  came 
to  Massachusetts  Bay  in  l(i2(5,  and  was  a  descendant  in  the  sixteenth  generation  from 
William  de  la  Grande,  a  knight  who  followed  William  the  Conqueror  from  Normandy 
into  England  in  HOC.  His  son  was  grande  porteur  to  Henry  I.  (1120-40),  from  which 
circumstance  he  received  the  name  of  Purler,  afterward  borne  by  his  family. 

President  Barnard's  father  was  Robert  Foster  Barnard,  of  Sheffield,  Mass.,  a  lawyer  of 
repute  and  several  times  State  Senator.  His  mother  was  Augusta,  daughter  of  Dr. 
Joshua  Porter,  of  Salisbury,  Conn. 

At  the  age  of  six  years  Frederick  began  the  study  of  Latin.  He  was  prepared  fo^col- 
lege  at  fifteen,  and  entered  Yale  in  1824.  At  nineteen  he  graduated  second  in  the  honor 
list.  Early  in  his  college  course  he  was  distinguished,  especially  in  the  pure  mathemat- 
ics and  exact  sciences,  in  which,  before  the  close  of  his  sophomore  year,  he  was  the 
recognized  leader  of  the  whole  school. 

On  his  graduation  young  Barnard  became  an  instructor  in  a  Hartford  grammar  school, 
where  he  formed  the  acquaintance  of  John  G.  Whittier,  the  poet,  which  ripened  into 
warm  friendship  that  has  continued  unabated  for  half  a  century. 

In  1830  Mr.  Barnard  became  a  tutor  in  Yale  College,  but  menaces  of  failing  health 
caused  him  soon  to  resign.  The  next  year  he  was  an  instructor  in  the  Deaf  and  Dumb 
Asylum  at  Hartford,  and  in  1832  held  the  same  position  in  the  New  York  Institution  for 
the  Instruction  of  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  under  the  late  Dr.  Harvey  P.  Peet.  While  in  this 
institution  he  prepared  and  published  a  volume  embodying  the  results  of  his  experience 
in  teaching  language,  entitled  "  Analytical  Grammar,  with  Symbolic  Illustrations."  He 
also  rendered  important  service  to  Mr.  Peet  in  the  preparation  of  the  annual  reports. 

In  1837  Mr.  Barnard  accepted  an  invitation  to  the  chair  of  mathematics  and  natural 
philosophy  in  the  University  of  Alabama,  at  Tuscaloosa.  That  position  he  occupied 
twelve  years,  when  he  was  transferred  to  the  chair  of  chemistry  and  natural  history  in 
the  same  institution.  During  his  connection  with  the  university  he  built  an  astronomi- 
cal observatory  for  the  institution,  contributed  frequently  to  the  American  Journal  of 
Science  and  literary  periodicals,  and  for  several  years  had  the  editorial  management 
(anonymously)  of  a  weekly  political  newspaper  published  at  Tuscaloosa. 

In  1840  the  governor  of  Alabama  appointed  Professor  Barnard  astronomer  on  the  part 
of  that  State  to  assist  in  determining  the  true  boundary  line  between  Alabama  and 
Florida.  Each  State  appointed  one  commissioner  and  an  astronomical  adviser.  The 
astronomer  appointed  by  Florida  failed  to  appear,  and  Professor  Barnard  was  employed 
by  both  States.  His  report,  submitted  to  the  Legislatures  of  the  respective  States,  was 
regarded  as  conclusive,  and  settled  the  long-pending  boundary  controversy. 

During  the  excitement  which  followed  the  war  with  Mexico,  when,  in  Alabama  and 
elsewhere  in  the  South,  a  strong  desire  for  a  dissolution  of  the  Union  was  excited  by 
demagogues,  and  with  so  much  violence  that  Union  men  dared  not  speak  above  a  whisper 
in  some  places,  Professor  Barnard  was  invited  by  citizens  of  Tuscaloosa  to  deliver  an 
oration  on  the  4th  of  July.    He  accepted  the  invitation,  with  the  understanding  that  he 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


140 


In  the  year  1807  the  whole  number  of  students  matriculated  at 
Columbia  College  (the  School  of  Arts,  the  School  of  Mines,  and  the 

should  freely  speak  on  the  burning  question  of  the  day.  He  did  so  with  a  boldness  and 
with  logic  which  silenced  the  disunionists.  The  speech  was  published  and  widely 
circulated,  and  was  one  of  the  chief  instruments  in  allaying  the  disunion  craze  in  that 
region  for  years.  His  many  public  addresses  on  other  topics — art  culture,  varied  indus- 
tries, railroads,  and  other  subjects  of  moment— created  new  social  aspirations  in  that 
region,  which  led  to  permanent  beneficial  results. 

In  1851  Professor  Barnard  accepted  an  invitation  to  the  chair  of  mathematics  and 
natural  philosophy  in  the  University  of  Mississippi,  and  he  was  the  chief  instrument  in 
finally  securing  to  that  institution  the  benefits  of  a  national  endowment  fund,  of  which 
it  had  been  for  many  years  deprived  by  neglect. 

While  Professor  Barnard  was  attending  a  meeting  of  the  American  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  Science  at  Albany,  in  the  summer  of  1856,  he  was  elected  president  of 
the  University  of  Mississippi,  a  title  which  was  changed  to  chancellor  in  1858.  He  at 
once  inaugurated  measures  for  the  moral  and  educational  reform  of  the  institution.  This 
movement  was  in  successful  progress  when  the  late  civil  war  broke  out  in  1861.  The 
university  was  soon  afterward  broken  up,  and  Chancellor  Barnard  resigned  his  office. 
On  his  departure  the  board  of  trustees  conferred  on  him  the  honorary  title  of  Doctor  of 
Divinity,  he  having  taken  orders  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  He  had  received 
the  honorary  degree  of  LL.D.  from  his  alma  mater,  Yale  College,  in  1859. 

Dr.  Barnard  was  refused  a  passport  to  his  native  State,  and  with  his  wife  he  remained 
a  long  time  in  Norfolk,  watching  an  opportunity  for  escape.  When  General  Wool  took 
that  city  in  1862,  they  went  to  Washington,  where  they  were  cordially  received  by  Presi- 
dent  Lincoln  at  a  full  cabinet  meeting.  Professor  Barnard  was  soon  afterward  appoint- 
ed director  of  the  map  and  chart  department  of  the  Coast  Surrey,  the  chief  business  of 
which  then  was  the  preparation  of  "  war  maps"  almost  daily. 

In  May,  1864,  Dr.  Barnard  was  elected  president  of  Columbia  College  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  and  was  inaugurated  with  much  ceremony  at  the  beginning  of  the  college 
year  in  September  following.  In  his  admirable  inaugural  address  President  Barnard 
made  valuable  suggestions  of  improvements  in  the  educational  policy  of  the  institution. 
In  that  direction  he  has  labored  incessantly,  with  the  most  satisfactory  results  ;  and 
to-day  he  stands  in  the  foremost  rank  of  educators  as  a  reformer  of  systems  of  learning, 
and  as  a  champion  for  the  higher  education  of  women.  Has  kept  constantly  in  view  the 
idea  of  making  Columbia  College  a  true  university.  The  condition  of  the  institution 
now  is  the  best  commentary  on  the  wise  and  efficient  labors  of  President  Barnard  in  its 
behalf.    Its  School  of  Mines  is  his  offspring. 

During  his  administration  for  nineteen  years  President  Barnard  has  been  conspicuous 
in  labors  in  scientific  fields  outside  of  Columbia  College.  He  was  one  of  the  fifty  incorpo- 
rators of  the  National  Academy  of  Sciences,  and  succeeded  Agassiz  as  its  foreign  secre- 
tary. He  was  one  of  the  ten  United  States  commissioners  to  the  Paris  Exposition  in 
1867,  and  made  an  exhaustive  report  on  the  Machinery  and  Processes  of  the  Industrial 
Arts  and  the  Apparatus  of  the  Exact  Sciences.  President  Barnard  visited  Europe  several 
times  afterward. 

President  Barnard  has  taken  great  interest  in  the  subject  of  the  metric  system  of 
weights,  measures,  and  moneys.  At  the  request  of  Professor  Henry  and  other  eminent 
scientists,  he  called  a  meeting  of  gentlemen  interested  in  international  questions,  for  the 
purpose  of  forming  an  organization  to  promote  the  unification  of  the  various  discordant 
national  systems  of  weights,  measures,  and  moneys.    An  association  was  formed  at  Colum- 


150 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


School  of  Law — established  in  IS.kS)*  was  five  hundred  and  fourteen. 
The  number  of  matriculates  in  the  three  departments  in  the  year 
ending  in  May,  18S2,  was  one  thousand  and  fifty-four — an  increase  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  per  cent. 

The  general  college  library  contains  more  than  twenty  thousand 
volumes.  The  total  number  of  volumes  in  all  the  libraries  of  the  insti- 
tution is  about  fifty  thousand,  nearly  all  selected  in  reference  to  the 
wants  of  the  various  professors. 

Columbia  College  has  in  all  its  faculties,  including  the  president, 
about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  professors,  instructors,  and  assist- 
ants, and  the  total  number  of  students  in  all  the  schools  averages  fully 
fifteen  hundred. 

At  the  beginning  of  1883  Columbia  College  had  incurred  a  debt,  in 
the  construction  of  buildings  on  the  Botanic  Garden  (the  square 
bounded  by  Forty-ninth  and  Fiftieth  streets  and  Madison  and  Fourth 

bia  College  for  this  purpose  in  1873,  called  the  American  Metrologieal  Society,  of  which 
Dr.  Barnard  has  heen  president  until  now  (1883). 

Dr.  Barnard  was  the  editor-in-chief  of  "Johnson's  Cyclopaedia,"  to  which  he  contrib- 
uted several  original  articles.  He  is  an  honorary  member  of  scientific  and  literary  socie 
ties  at  home  and  abroad.  In  18-17  he  married  Margaret  McMurray,  daughter  of  Robert 
MeMurray,  Esq.  (originally  of  Cumberland,  England),  his  true  wife  and  loving  helpmate 
for  thirty  six  years.  She  has  resided  m  this  country  since  her  infancy.  "To  the 
encouragement  derived  from  her  good  sense,  energy,  and  sanguine  temperament, "  her 
husband  wrote  to  the  author  of  this  work,  "  I  am  largely  indebted  for  whatever  success 
may  have  attended  me  in  life." 

•  The  School  of  Arts  is  the  nucleus  of  the  college,  around  which  the  other  schools  have 
grown.  The  course  of  instruction  embraces  the  branches  that  arc  commonly  understood 
under  the  title  of  "  a  classical  education." 

Tin'  School  of  Mims  constitutes  the  scientific  department  of  the  college,  and  is  divided 
into  five  parallel  courses  of  mining  engineering,  civil  engineering,  metallurgy,  geology, 
and  natural  history  ;  also  analytical  and  applied  chemistry.  The  course  occupies  four 
years. 

The  Law  School  until  recently  was  located  in  a  building  at  the  corner  of  Lafayette 
Place  and  Great  Jones  Street.    The  course  occupies  two  years.' 

There  is  also  a  School  of  Political  Science,  opened  in  October,  1880,  and  designed  to  give 
a  complete  general  view  of  all  the  subjects,  both  of  external  and  internal  public  policy, 
from  the  threefold  standpoint  of  history,  law,  and  philosophy.  The  full  course  of  in- 
struction occupies  three  years.  On  the  satisfactory  completion  of  one  year  the  degree 
of  Bachelor  of  Philosophy  is  conferred  ;  on  the  satisfactory  completion  of  three  3"ears, 
the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy  is  conferred. 

Columbia  has  also  a  grammar  school,  coeval  with  the  college  from  its  beginning  as 
King's  College. 

1  The  faculty  of  the  Law  School  is  composed  of  the  president  of  Columbia  College  and  five  professors. 
President  Barnard  i<  president  of  the  Law  School  :  Robert  Senftner,  LL.B  ,  is  secretary,  and  Herbert  \V. 
Grindal.  B.S.,  is  librarian. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


151 


avenues),  of  over  $100,000,  and  will  reach  nearly  $300,000  by  Septem- 
ber, 1883.  Its  income,  however,  is  nearly  §40,000  more  than  its  ordi- 
nary expenses,  and  this  is  continually  increasing.  The  trustees  desire 
to  raise  the  institution  to  the  dignity  of  a  first-class  university.  On 
April  3,  1883,  they  gave  to  the  public  a  detailed  statement  of  the 
financial  affairs  of  the  college,  and  declared  that  it  needed  an  endow- 
ment of  $4,000,000  to  accomplish  the  great  object  of  their  desire.  The 
people  of  the  great  city  of  New  York  will  furnish  this  sum. 

Among  the  existing  literary  associations  of  the  city,  The  New  York 
Society  Library  is  the  oldest.  It  was  founded  in  1".">4.  The  <renn  of 
the  society  may  be  found  in  a  small  collection  of  books  called  "  The 
Corporation  Library,"1  founded  during  the  administration  of  the  Earl 
of  Bellomont,  in  the  year  1700.  It  constantly  increased  in  size  and 
importance  until  the  year  1729,  when  it  received  a  large  accession  from 
England. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Millington,  rector  of  Newington,  England,  bequeathed 
over  1600  volumes  to  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel 
in  Foreign  Parts.  The  secretary  of  that  society,  in  a  letter  dated  Sep- 
tember 23,  1728,  informed  John  Montgomerie,  then  governor  of  the 
Province  of  New  York,  that  the  Propagation  Society  intended  to  place 
the  one  thousand  volumes  in  the  city  of  New  York  as  a  library  for  the 
"  use  of  the  clergy  and  gentlemen"  of  the  provinces  of  New  York,  New 
Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  and  Connecticut,  and  requested  the  governor  to 
recommend  the  Assembly  to  provide  a  suitable  place  for  the  deposit 
and  preservation  of  those  books,  and  others  that  might  be  added  to 
them.  The  Assembly  made  such  provision  in  1729.  They  were  placed 
in  the  custody  of  the  corporation  of  the  city. 

The  greater  portion  of  these  books  were  on  theological  subjects,  the 
choicest  reading  of  that  day,  and  the  sending  of  those  books  to  the  city 
for  such  a  purpose  was  acknowledged  with  gratitude  as  a  gracious  and 
generous  act. 

In  1754  a  number  of  gentlemen  of  the  city  resolved  to  establish  a 
public  library.  Subscriptions  for  the  purpose  were  solicited,  and  very 
soon  the  sum  of  $1250  was  subscribed,  with  which  seven  hundred  vol- 
umes were  purchased.  They  were  all  new  books,  and  more  miscellane- 
ous in  their  character.  An  association  called  the  New  York  Society 
Library  was  formed.  The  price  of  a  share  was  $12.50,  and  an  annual 
fee  of  $1.50  was  required  of  each  shareholder.  The  new  books  were 
deposited  with  the  volumes  of  the  Corporation  Library  and  the  books 
received  from  England.  The  collection  was  then  known  as  k'  The  City 
Library." 


152 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


On  November  25,  1772,  Governor  William  Tryon  granted  the  asso- 
ciation an  act  of  incorporation,  under  the  title  of  The  Trustees  of  the 
New  Fork  Society  Library.  The  charter  confirmed  the  terms  of  mem- 
bership already  determined  on  by  the  founders  of  the  society,  and  the 
care  of  the  institution  was  intrusted  to  twelve  trustees,  annually 
elected.  It  was  empowered  to  hold  property  not  to  exceed,  in  yearly 
value,  s-1400,  and  to  erect  a  building  to  be  known  as  "  The  New  York 
Society  Library." 

This  institution  was  flourishing  :  the  number  of  its  books  was 
rapidly  increasing,  by  donations  and  otherwise,  when  the  war  for  inde- 
pendence broke  out,  in  1775.  During  the  seven  or  eight  years  that  the 
war  raged  (a  large  portion  of  that  period  the  city  of  New  York  was 
occupied  by  British  troops)  the  principal  part  of  the  books  were  scat- 
tried  and  destroyed. 

The  operations  of  the  library  were  resumed  in  1788,  when  the  stock- 
holders elected  a  board  of  trustees,*  and  it  was  ever  afterward  a  kindly 
fostered  and  cherished  institution  of  the  city.  The  Legislature  con- 
tinned  its  charter  in  1789.  The  library  was  deposited  in  the  City  Hall, 
and  there  it  remained  until  1795,  when  its  growing  importance  de- 
manded more  extensive  accommodations. 

New  York  City  baring  been  the  seat  of  the  National  Government 
during  the  earlier  years  of  its  existence  under  the  National  Constitu- 
tion, and  its  sessions  being  held  in  the  City  Hall  in  Wall  Street,  the 
Society  Library  was  for  a  while  the  library  of  Congress. 

Additional  subscribers  having  been  obtained,  land  was  purchased  in 
Nassau  street  (a  part  of  Joseph  Winter's  garden),  between  Cedar  and 
Liberty  streets,  opposite  the  Middle  Dutch  Church  (late  the  City  Post- 
Office).  There  a  substantial  brick  building  was  erected,  and  the  second 
story  was  fitted  up  for  the  use  of  the  Library.  It  was  one  of  the  most 
conspicuous  edifices  in  the  city  at  that  day,  and  to  it  the  library  was 
removed  in  17!»5.  There  it  continued  until  1836,  when  the  increasing 
commerce  of  the  city  compelled  the  trustees  to  seek  another  situation. 
The  property  in  Nassau  Street  was  sold,  a  lot  was  purchased  on  Broad- 
way, corner  of  Leonard  Street,  and  while  a  building  was  being  erected 
on  it  the  library  occupied  the  rooms  of  the  Mechanics'  Society  in 
Chambers  Street. 

In  1S40  the  building  on  Broadway  was  finished,  and  the  library  was 

*  The  following  gentlemen  were  chosen  trustees  :  Robert  R.  Livingston,  Robert 
Watts,  Brockholst  Livingston,  Samuel  Jones,  Walter  Rutherford,  Matthew  Clarkson, 
Peter  Ketteltas,  Samuel  Bard,  Hugh  Gaine,  Daniel  C.  Verplanck,  Edward  Griswold, 
Henry  Remsen. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830  1840. 


153 


removed  to  it.  Thirteen  years  later  this  property  was  sold,  and  the 
library  occupied  rooms  in  the  Bible  House,  at  Eighth  Street  and  Fourth 
Avenue.  The  lot  on  which  the  building  it  now  occupies  stands,  in 
University  Piaee,  was  purchased,  and  the  edifice  erected  upon  it  was 
completed  in  the  spring  of  1856.  The  library  first  occupied  it  in  May 
of  that  year. 

The  first  catalogue  issued  alter  its  removal,  printed  in  1792,  showed 
that  the  library  then  contained  about  five  thousand  volumes.  In 
1813  the  number  was  thirteen  thousand,  and  in  L830  nearly  twenty 
thousand.  It  has  received  from  time  to  time  valuable  donations  of 
books  and  liberal  bequests  of  money.  The  largest  gift  the  library  ever 
received  was  that  of  Mrs.  Sarah  II.  Green,  from  the  estate  of  her  de- 
ceased husband,  John  C.  Green.  The  amount  was  S5O,OO0.  It  was 
presented  in  1880,  with  a  stipulation  that  the  income  from  the  fund 
should  be  used  for  the  purchase  of  books,  one  half  for  costly  illustrated 
works  for  "the  John  C.  Green  alcove,"1  and  one  half  for  works  for 
circulation.  This  alcove  of  books  had  its  origin  in  a  munificent  gift  of 
the  late  John  0.  Green,  of  the  city  of  Xew  York.  A  special  attendant 
has  charge  of  that  alcove,  so  that  its  treasures  may  always  be  open  for 
inspection.  The  income  from  ground  rent  of  property  owned  by  the 
society  in  Chatham  Street  is  set  apart  as  the  income  of  the  "  John  C. 
Green  Fund.'" 

The  library  now  contains  about  eighty  thousand  volumes.  Its  shares 
i  with  annual  dues  commuted)  are  815D  each,  or  by  payment  of  sl()  a 
year.  $25.  There  is  a  reading-room  connected  with  the  library,  open 
for  the  use  of  shareholders,  and  of  strangers  for  one  month  when  intro- 
tluced  by  a  member.  Non-members  are  allowed  to  consult  the  books 
by  the  payment  of  twenty-five  cents  each  time.  The  society  has  no 
debts.  * 

One  of  the  oldest  associations  in  the  city  of  Xew  York,  yet  in  pros- 
perous and  useful  operation,  is  Tiie  General  Society  of  Mechanics 
and  Tbapk8MBW.    It  has  certainly  been  in  existence  since  1TS4. 

The  first  meetings  of  the  society  of  which  any  records  exist  were 
held  at  the  house  of  Walter  liver,  in  November,  ITS,"),  in  King's  Street, 
now  Pine  Street.  In  1S02  the  society  bought  a  lot  (size  2(5. DO  by  98.3 
feet)  at  the  corner  of  (present)  Park  Place  and  Broadway,  yet  in  its 
possession,  for  the  sum  of  80325.  The  next  year  they  erected  a  build- 
ing on  the  lot  at  a  cost  of  about  823,(M»o,  making  the  whole  cost  a  little 

*  The  officers  of  the  society  in  1883  were  :  Robert  Lenox  Kennedy,  president  ;  Edward 
Schell,  treasurer;  John  M.  Knox,  secretary  :  Wentworth  S.  Butler,  librarian. 


154 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


more  than  $20,000.  The  premises  now  rent  for  more  than  $24,000  a 
year. 

In  1702  a  charter  was  obtained  from  the  Legislature,  and  has  been 
renewed  from  time  to  time.  It  was  amended  in  1821,  to  allow  of  the 
establishment  of  a  school  for  the  free  education  of  the  children  of  poor 
or  deceased  members,  and  a  library  for  the  use  of  apprentices.  An 
amendment  in  1833  provided  for  the  setting  apart  of  certain  receipts 
as  sacred  to  the  purpose  of  disseminating  literary  and  scientific  knowl- 
edge. Another  amendment  in  1842  allowed  its  then  free  school  to  be- 
come a  pay  school  for  those  who  could  afford  to  pay,  and  to  allow  the 
establishment  of  a  separate  fund  for  the  support  of  the  Apprentices1 
Library  and  Reading- Rooms. 

Tin;  Apprentices1  Library  was  established  in  1820.  It  then  con- 
sisted of  eight  hundred  volumes,  most  of  which  had  been  contributed 
by  members  of  the  General  Society  and  philanthropic  citizens.  The 
Library  at  first  was  only  open  in  the  evening,  the  books  being  handed 
out  to  the  readers  by  members  of  a  committee.  It  maintained  a  feeble 
existence  for  many  years.  In  1850  it  contained  about  fourteen  thou- 
sand volumes. 

The  vast  increase  in  the  value  of  the  real  estate  of  the  General 
Society  of  Mechanics  and  Tradesmen  so  enlarged  its  income  that  for 
many  years  it  has  been  enabled  to  strengthen  every  department  of  its 
work,  especially  the  Apprentices'  Library.  From  Benjamin  Demilt 
the  library  received  a  bequest  of  $7500,  besides  his  private  library,  a 
very  valuable  collection  of  standard  works.  Pierre  Lorillard  also  be- 
queathed to  the  library  fund  $5000,  which  was  entirely  devoted  to  the 
purchase  of  books.  On  the  first  of  January,  1883,  the  Apprentices' 
Library  contained  sixty-five  thousand  volumes,  of  which  more  than 
forty  thousand  are  works  of  a  standard  character. 

In  1S32  the  society  bought  a  lot  With  a  high  school  building  on  it  in 
Crosby  Street,  where  it  had  its  headquarters  until  the  completion,  in 
1878,  of  its  present  commodious  four-storied  building  at  Nos.  10  and 
IS  East  Sixteenth  Street.  In  1833  the  association  estimated  the  value 
of  its  possessions  at  about  $7o,0o0  above  all  its  debts  ;  owing  to  the 
enormous  increase  in  the  value  of  its  real  estate,  the  estimated  value  of 
its  possessions  in  1SS3  was  about  $780,000.  It  has  sixty-eight  pension- 
ers— nine  members,  fifty-five  widows,  and  four  children.  During  one 
year  (  lssl-82)  the  total  number  of  books  drawn  from  the  library  was 
163,436.  The  number  of  visitors  to  the  reading-room  during  the  same 
time  was  36,000. 

The  General  Society  of  Mechanics  and  Tradesmen  is  a  most  remark- 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


155 


able  example  of  the  financial  success  in  the  management  of  an  institu- 
tion, while  all  its  laudable  purposes  were  carried  out  with  vigor  and 
fidelity.* 

*  The  officers  of  the  society  in  1883  were  :  Daniel  Herbert,  president  ;  John  H.  Rogers 
and  John  H.  Waydell,  vice-presidents  :  James  G.  Burnet,  treasurer  ;  Thomas  Earle, 
secretary,  and  James  Woolley,  collector. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


THE  IVew  York  Historical  Society  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
as  well  as  useful  institutions  in  the  city  of  New  York.  It  had 
just  started  on  a  prosperous  career,  after  years  of  struggle,  at  the  time 
we  are  considering  (about  1820-30).  It  had  recently  cleared  itself  of 
debt,  and  was  working  vigorously  in  the  cause  to  which  it  was  devoted, 
namely,  the  collection  and  preservation  of  whatever  might  relate  to  the 
natural,  civil,  and  ecclesiastical  history  of  the  United  States  in  general, 
and  especially  to  that  of  the  rightfully  called  Empire  State  of  the  Repub- 
lic. This  happy  state  of  affairs  had  been  brought  about  largely  by  the 
exertions  of  Frederic  de  Pevster,  who  was  one  of  its  most  active  and 
devoted  members  for  more  than  half  a  century,  and  who  with  the  aid 
of  Governor  De  Witt  Clinton  had  procured  from  the  Legislature  of  the 
State  a  grant  of  s.jtMto  for  the  benefit  of  the  struggling  association. 

The  Historical  Society  clearly  owes  its  conception  to  the  active  mind 
and  energetic  character  of  .John  Pintard,  a  New  Yorker  by  birth,  of 
Huguenot  descent.  He  was  a  graduate  of  the  College  of  Xew  Jersey, 
at  Princeton,  where  he  was  a  favorite  of  President  Witherspoon  ;  had 
a  wide  circle  of  learned  friends  in  his  own  State  and  other  common- 
wealths, and  was  not  only  familiar  with  classical  and  elegant  literature, 
but  by  the  means  of  a  natural  enthusiasm  in  the  acquirement  of  knowl- 
edge and  a  most  retentive  memory,  he  was  possessed  of  a  large  fund  of 
historical  and  geographical  information.  Of  Mr.  Pintard  Dr.  John 
W.  Francis  wrote  : 

"  lie  was  versed  in  theological  and  polemical  divinity,  and  in  the 
progress  of  church  affairs  among  us  ever  a  devoted  disciple.  You  could 
scarcely  approach  him  without  having  something  of  Dr.  Johnson  thrust 
upon  you.  Then;  were  periods  in  his  life  in  which  he  gave  every 
unappropriated  moment  to  philological  inquiry,  and  it  was  curious  to 
see  him  ransacking  his  formidable  pile  of  dictionaries  for  radicals  and 
synonyms,  with  an  earnestness  that  would  have  done  honor  to  the  most 
eminent  student  in  the  republic  of  letters."  Again:  "Everybody 
consulted  him  for  information  touching  this  State's  transactions,  and 
the  multifarious  occurrences  of  this  city,  which  have  marked  its 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830  1840. 


157 


progress  since  our  Revolutionary  struggle.  Persons  and  things,  indi- 
vidualities and  corporations,  literary,  biographical,  ecclesiastical,  and 
historical  circumstances,  municipal  and  legislative  enactments,  internal 
and  external  commerce — all  these  were  prominent  among  the  number  ; 
and  his  general  accuracy  as  to  persons  and  dates  made  him  a  living 
chronology. " 

Such  were  salient  points  in  the  character  of  the  man  who  was  the 
chief  founder  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society.  He  long  cherished 
the  idea  of  such  an  institution  before  attempting  to  give  it  a  practical 
influence.  While  secretaiy  of  his  uncle,  Lewis  Pintard,  a  merchant 
and  commissary  of  American  prisoners  in  the  city  of  New  York  during 
the  latter  period  of  the  old  war  for  independence,  he  became  power- 
fully impressed  with  the  importance  of  preserving  records  of  events,  for 
he  was  living  in  the  midst  of  most  momentous  occurrences.  After  the 
war  he  bought  from  Dr.  Chandler,  of  Elizabethtown,  New  Jersey,  a 
large  collection  of  documents  relating  to  the  Revolution,  and  gradually 
a  plan  for  the  establishment  of  an  antiquarian  society  took  tangible 
shape  in  his  mind. 

In  1789  Pintard  visited  Boston,  and  communicated  his  ideas  concern- 
ing an  antiquarian  or  historical  society  to  the  eminent  theologian,  biogra- 
pher, and  historian,  Jeremy  Belknap,  who  warmly  approved  his  plan. 
''This  day,"  he  wrote  to  Ebenezer  Hazard,  the  Postmaster-General; 
"  this  day  Mr.  Pintard  called  to  see  me.  He  says  he  is  an  acquaint- 
ance of  yours,  and  wants  to  form  an  antiquarian  society."  Several 
months  later  Belknap  wrote  to  Hazard  :  "1  like  Pintard's  idea  of  a 
society  of  American  antiquarians,  but  where  will  you  find  a  sufficiency 
of  members,  of  suitable  abilities  and  leisure  V  The  theologian  appears 
to  have  acted  energetically  on  the  hints  given  him  by  Pintard,  for  in 
less  than  two  years  after  the  New  Yorker's  visit  we  find  Belknap  at 
the  head  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society. 

Pintard  seems  to  have  acted  promptly  and  energetically  in  attempts 
to  put  his  cherished  scheme  into  practical  operation  in  New  York.  He 
was  an  active  member  of  the  Tammany  Society  or  Columbian  Order, 
and  was  its  first  sagamore,  and  he  connected  his  antiquarian  scheme 
with  that  society.  "Writing  to  Belknap  in  the  spring  of  1791,  he 
said  : 

"  This  [the  Tammany]  being  a  strong  national  society,  I  engrafted 
an  antiquarian  scheme  of  a  museum  upon  it.  It  makes  small  progress 
with  a  small  fund,  and  may  possibly  succeed.  "We  have  a  tolerable 
collection  of  pamphlets,  mostly  moderns,  with  some  history,  of  which  I 
will  send  you  an  abstract.    If  your  society  [the  Massachusetts  Histori- 


158 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


cal]  succeeds  well,  will  open  a  regular  correspondence.  ...  If  my 
plan  once  strikes  root,  it  will  thrive."  * 

Not  very  much  seems  to  have  been  accomplished  in  the  matter  in  con- 
nection with  the  Tammany  Society  during  many  succeeding  years,  but 
Pintard  did  not  allow  his  project  to  slumber.  He  finally  created  a  lively 
interest  in  his  scheme  in  the  minds  of  leading  men  in  the  city,  and  at 
his  request  nearly  a  dozen  of  them  met,  by  appointment,  in  a  room  in 
the  City  Hall,  in  Wall  Street,  on  the  afternoon  of  November  20,  1804. 
These  gentlemen  were  John  Pintard,  Egbert  Benson,  then  late  judge  of 
the  United  States  District  Court  ;  De  Witt  Clinton,  then  mayor  of  the 
city,  the  Rev.  Drs.  Samuel  Miller,  John  M.  Mason,  John  N.  Abeel, 
and  William  Lewis,  all  distinguished  clergymen  ;  Dr.  David  Ilosack, 
Anthony  Bleecker,  Samuel  Bayard,  and  Peter  Gerard  Stuyvesant. 
Mr.  Pintard,  Judge  Benson,  and  Dr.  Miller  were  appointed  a  commit- 
tee to  draft  a  constitution.  All  present  evinced  a  lively  interest  in  the 
matter. 

A  meeting  was  held  on  the  10th  of  December,  at  the  same  place; 
when  several  other  prominent  citizens  were  present,  among  them  Judge 
Brockholst  Livingston,  the  Rev.  Benjamin  Moore,  then  bishop  of  the 
Diocese  of  New  York  ;  Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  Kufus  King,  and  Rev. 
John  II.  Ilobart,  afterward  bishop  of  the  same  diocese.  The  constitu- 
tion presented  was  adopted,  and  the  title  given  to  the  association  was 
4 '  The  New  York  Historical  Society."  It  was  organized  on  the  14th 
of  January  following,  when  Judge  Benson  was  chosen  president,  the 
Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Moore  first  vice-president,  Judge  Brockholst  Livings- 
ton second  vice-president,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Miller  corresponding  secretary, 
John  Pintard  t  recording  secretary,  Charles  "Wilkes  treasurer,  and 
John  Forbes  librarian. 

*  Mr.  Pintard  was  really  the  founde  r  of  Barnum's  Museum.  The  corporation  granted 
a  room  in  the  City  Hall  for  the  use  of  the  Tammany  Society  Museum.  It  was  open  every 
Tuesday  and  Friday  afternoon.    A  document  in  existence,  dated  May  1,  1791,  reads  : 

"  Americas  Museum,  under  the  patronage  of  the  Tammany  Society  or  Columbian  Order. 

'•'  Any  article  sent  ou  these  days,  or  to  Mr.  John  Pintard,  No.  57  King  Street,  will  he 
thankfully  received." 

Mr.  Pintard  was  the  secretary  of  the  American  Museum,  and  Gardner  Baker  keeper. 
It  became  the  sole  property  of  Baker  in  1808.  He  sold  it  to  Dr.  Scudder,  and  it  was 
finally  sold  to  Barnum. 

f  John  Piptard,  son  of  John  Pintard,  a  New  York  merchant,  was  then  in  the  prime  of 
manhood,  having  been  born  May  18,  1759.  Both  his  father  and  mother  died  before  he 
was  one  year  old.  The  babe  was  taken  by  his  uncle,  Lewis  Pintard,  a  thriving  merchant 
in  New  York,  as  his  foster  child.  He  was  sent  to  a  grammar  school  at  Hempstead,  L.  I., 
and  became  the  best  Latin  scholar  in  the  seminary.  He  was  graduated  at  Princeton  in 
177(3.    He  drilled  soldiers  every  day,  and  when  the  professor  entered  the  army  and  the 


FIRST  DECADE,  18SO-1840. 


15!) 


The  New  York  Historical  Society  occupied  a  room  in  the  old  City 
Hall,  in  Wall  Street,  from  lso4  till  1809.  It  received  its  charter  from 
the  State  Legislature  in  the  latter  year.  It  then  became  migratory 
for  almost  half  a  century.  In  1809  its  collections  were  removed  to  the 
Government  House,  on  the  south-east  side  of  the  Howling  Green.  In 
1816  they  were  taken  to  the  New  York  Institution,  where  they 

institution  was  broken  np,  he  went  too,  after  he  had  received  his  degree.  After  serving 
a  while  in  the  army,  young  Pintard  became  deputy  commissary  for  American  prisoners 
in  New  York,  under  his  uncle,  for  whom  he  acted  as  secretary.  He  was  in  that  office  about 
three  years,  doing  nearly  all  the  business  most  of  the  time.  Elias  Boudinot,  his  brother- 
in-law,  was  then  commissary-general  of  prisoners. 

When  Pintard  left  the  office  in  1780  he  went  to  Taramus,  New  Jersey,  where  resided 
Colonel  Brashear,  a  stanch  Whig  and  distant  relative  of  the  young  man.  He  fell  in  love 
with  the  colonel's  daughter,  and  they  were  married  in  1785.  "  He  was  handsome,  and 
she  was  the  loveliest  girl  in  the  land,"  sa}-s  "  Walter  Barrett,  clerk." 

Up  to  that  time  John  Pintard  was  a  clerk  for  his  uncle  ;  then  he  began  business  for 
himself,  at  No.  12  Wall  Street,  in  the  India  trade.  One  of  his  ships  (the  Jay)  was  among 
the  first  vessels  that  brought  cargoes  from  China.  In  178!)  he  was  elected  alderman  of 
the  East  Ward,  which  took  in  Wall  Street  below  William  Street.  In  17!)0  he  was  elected 
to  the  State  Legislature. 

In  1702  John  Pintard,  out  of  debt,  rich  and  prosperous,  had  his  name  on  the  back  of 
notes  drawn  by  William  Duer,  son-in-law  of  Lord  Stirling,  who  was  regarded  as  one  of  the 
greatest  financiers  of  the  day,  for  a  full  million  dollars.  Duer  failed.  Pintard  gave  up 
ships,  cargoes,  houses,  furniture,  library,  everything,  to  partially  pay  the  notes  he  had 
indorsed.  He  settled  in  Newark,  where  he  found  employment  as  a  commissioner  for 
building  bridges.  Dner's  creditors  followed  him,  and  confined  him  in  Newark  jail  four- 
teen mouths. 

The  general  bankrupt  law  of  1800  relieved  Mr.  Pintard,  and  he  returned  to  New  York, 
where  he  first  became  a  book  auctioneer.  In  1801  his  uncle  bought  for  him  the  Daily 
Advertiser,  but  he  did  not  conduct  it  long.  In  1802  he  went  to  New  Orleans,  but  soon 
returned.  He  became  city  inspector,  and  in  1800  secretary  of  a  fire  insurance  company, 
which  position  he  filled  until  1820,  when,  at  the  age  of  seventy,  he  resigned.  He  became 
almost  blind  and  deaf,  and  his  world  was  inside  of  himself  for  several  years.  He  died 
on  June  21,  1844,  at  the  age  of  eighty-five  years. 

Mr.  Pintard  was  th6  enlightened  and  active  friend  of  every  great  enterprise  for  the 
benefit  of  the  city,  and  in  every  good  work.  He  was  not  only  the  founder  of  the  New 
York  Historical  Society,  but  one  of  the  originators  of  the  free  school  system  in  the  city, 
an  active  promoter  of  the  Erie  Canal  project  from  the  beginning,  a  most  efficient  mem- 
ber of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  serving  it  as  secretary  ten  consecutive  years,  and 
infusing  into  it  new  vitality  ;  one  of  the  founders  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  active 
in  the  foundation  of  the  General  Theological  Society  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  the 
diocese,  and  the  chief  mover  in  the  establishment  of  the  first  savings  bank  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  of  which  he  was  president  thirteen  years,  retiring  when  he  was  nearly  eighty- 
two  years  of  age.  Mr.  Pintard  has  an  undoubted  and  clear  right  to  the  title  of  progenitor 
of  the  historical  societies  in  the  United  States. 

The  body  of  Mr.  Pintard  was  buried  in  the  family  vault  in  St.  Clement's  Church,  in 
Amity  Street.  Very  few  citizens  of  the  great  metropolis  to-day  have  even  the  most 
remote  idea  of  how  much  it  owes  to  John  Pintard  for  its  prosperity  and  good  name. 


100 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


remained  until  18.32,  when  they  were  deposited  in  the  Remsen  build- 
ing, on  Broadway.  In  1837  they  were  taken  to  the  Stuyvesant  Insti- 
tute, on  Broadway.  There  they  rested  only  four  years,  for  in  1841 
they  were  removed  to  the  New  York  I  niversity.  There  they  took  a 
longer  rest,  and  finally,  in  1857,  took  up  their  abode  in  a  building 
erected  by  the  society  on  the  corner  of  Eleventh  Street  and  Second 
Avenue. 

The  members  and  friends  of  the  Historical  Society  exhibited  much 
zeal  from  the  beginning,  in  efforts  to  secure  for  its  collections  manu- 
scripts, books,  rare  pamphlets  relating  to  American  history,  autograph 
letters  and  unpublished  documents,  files  of  American  newspapers,  espe- 
cially of  those  published  in  the  city  of  New  York  ;  specimens  of 
American  archaeology,  coins  and  medals,  works  of  painters,  sculptors, 
and  engravers,  and  everything  suitable  for  a  museum  of  historical 
treasures. 

For  more  than  twenty  years  the  society  labored  on  with  slender 
pecuniary  means,  continually  adding  to  its  list  of  members  some  of  the 
best  men  in  New  York  society,  with  its  offices  filled  by  persons  of  dis- 
tinction in  literature,  science,  and  art.  Its  pecuniary  power  was  so 
inadequate  to  the  noble  task  it  had  undertaken  that  it  found  itself,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  new  era  in  the  history  of  New  York  City,  bur- 
dened with  a  debt  amounting  to  about  $">0<)<>. 

It  was  at  this  juncture  that  the  society  was  strongly  beset  with  a 
temptation  which  yielded  to  might  have  caused  its  annihilation.  It 
was  a  supreme  crisis  in  the  history  of  tin;  institution.  At  that  time  a 
number  of  gentlemen  had  associated  in  the  formation  of  a  society  with 
the  avowed  purpose  of  encouraging  and  promoting  the  study  of  popular 
science,  belles-lettres,  and  the  fine  arts.  They  named  the  association 
The  New  York  Athenaeum.  Its  members  were  some  of  the  leading 
intellectual  lights  of  the  city.  They  had  conceived  the  design  of  unit- 
ing all  the  literary  societies  of  New  York  under  the  appropriate  title 
they  had  chosen,  for  the  purpose  of  creating  an  institution,  by  such  a 
combination,  which  should  be  the  most  distinguished  and  powerful  in 
the  United  States. 

Members  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  considering  its  pecuni- 
ary embarrassments,  almost  vehemently  urged  the  propriety  and  even 
the  necessity  of  joining  such  a  combination,  and  to  merge  it  into  The 
New  York  Athemeum.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Historical  Society,  Dr. 
Jeremiah  Van  Rensselaer,  a  prominent  member,  offered  a  resolution  that 
in  consideration  of  a  sum  sufficient  to  pay  off  its  indebtedness  the  entire 
property  should  be  transferred  to  the  Athenaeum. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


161 


An  energetic  .and  clear-headed  young  lawyer,  a  scion  of  one  of  the 
oldest  and  most  distinguished  Knickerbocker  families  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  had  recently  been  elected  a  member  of  the  Historical 
Society,  and  took  great  interest  in  its  affairs.  lie  earnestly  opposed 
Dr.  Van  Rensselaer's  resolution,  urging  that  such  a  sale  of  the  treas- 
ures of  the  society  would  be  dishonest,  and  in  violation  of  the  solemn 
pledges  given  to  the  public  by  its  founders,  for  they  represented  that  all 
donations,  of  whatever  kind,  should  be  held  as  part  of  the  archives  of 
the  society,  and  for  historical  purposes.  That  young  lawyer  was  the 
late  Frederic  de  Peyster,  LL.  D.,  who,  from  that  hour,  was  one  of  the 
most  energetic  and  influential  members  of  the  Historical  Society,  dying 
while  holding  its  presidential  chair,  at  the  age  of  eighty-six  years.* 

•  Frederic  de  Peyster,  L.L.D.,  was  born  in  Hanover  Square,  New  York,  on  November 
11,  1796.  His  ancestors  were  Huguenots  who  fled  from  persecution  in  France  in  the 
sixteenth  century  and  settled  in  Amsterdam  and  Rotterdam,  Holland.  The  first  of  the 
name  who  emigrated  to  America  was  Johannes  de  Peyster,  the  possessor  of  much  in- 
herited wealth,  who  came  to  New  Amsterdam  with  his  wife  about  1645,  when  he  was 
twenty-five  years  of  age.  He  became  a  successful  merchant  and  a  distinguished  citizen, 
being  in  succession  sheriff,  alderman,  and  burgomaster  of  New  Amsterdam,  and  in  Hi77 
deputy  mayor  of  New  York.  Two  of  his  sons  were  afterward  mayors  of  the  city.  The 
de  Peyster  family  have  ever  held  the  highest  social  position  in  New  York  City. 

The  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  Captain  Frederic  de  Peyster,  an  ardent 
loyalist  during  the  old  war  for  independence,  and  an  officer  in  the  king's  Third  American 
Regiment,  or  New  York  Volunteers.  He  married  a  daughter  of  Comuiissary-General 
Hake,  of  the  British  army.  Frederic  was  a  student  in  Columbia  College  during  the  war 
of  1812,  and  became  captain  of  the  students'  corps  known  as  the  "  College  Greens." 
They  assisted  in  the  construction  of  field  works  at  McGowan's  Pass  and  Manhattanville. 
He  was  graduated  in  1810,  and  began  the  study  of  law  with  the  Hon.  Peter  A.  Jay,  the 
eldest  son  of  Governor  John  Jay.  He  concluded  his  legal  studies  under  the  tuition  of 
Peter  Van  Schaack,  of  Kinderhook,  one  of  the  most  learned  lawyers  in  the  State.  De 
Peyster  was  admitted  to  practice  as  an  attorney  in  the  Supreme  Court  in  1819,  and  the 
same  year  he  became  a  solicitor  in  chancery.  It  is  said  his  reports  in  the  latter  capacity 
never  revealed  an  error. 

Young  de  Peyster  was  fond  of  military  matters,  and  was  active  several  years  in  the 
militia  of  the  State,  serving  as  brigade  major  in  the  Tenth  Brigade,  as  aide-de-camp  to 
Major-General  Flemming,  and  as  aide,  with  the  rank  of  colonel,  on  the  staff  of  Governor 
De  Witt  Clinton  in  1825.  Not  long  before  he  had  raised  the  question  whether  an  officer 
holding  one  military  position  could  be  legally  elected  to  another — a  salaried  one— with- 
out thereby  vacating  the  former  office.  It  was  decided  by  competent  authority  that  he 
could  not,  and  thus  a  test  case,  argued  by  de  Peyster  and  won,  gained  him  notoriety,  and 
settled  a  vexed  question  in  military  circles. 

From  his  early  life  Mr.  de  Peyster  took  an  active  interest  in  public  affairs.  So  early 
as  1810,  when  he  was  fourteen  years  of  age,  he  became  a  member  of  the  Free  School 
Society  of  New  York,  in  which,  in  after  years,  he  was  a  trustee.  He  possessed  a  decided 
literary  taste,  and  he  became  prominently  connected  with  several  literary  and  learned 
societies.  Joining  the  Historical  Society  of  New  York  about  1820,  he  became  its  corre- 
sponding secretary  in  1827,  and  was  recording  secretary  from  1829  till  1837.    He  became 


162 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


The  resolution  of  Dr.  Van  Rensselaer  was  warmly  discussed.  The 
arguments  of  Mr.  De  Peyster  prevailed,  and  the  resolution  was  not 
adopted.  After  the  adjournment  of  the  meeting,  Charles  King  (after- 
ward president  of  Columbia  College),  seven  years  the  senior  of  De 
Peyster,  said  to  the  latter  : 

"  Sir,  you  have  caused  a  serious  harm  to  both  the  Historical  Society 
and  the  Athenaeum  by  defeating  that  resolution.  You  have  frustrated 
a  laudable  object,  and  by  rejecting  the  proposed  union  this  society  will 
soon  be  a  hopeless  bankrupt." 

"  If  the  society  will  give  me  authority,"  replied  De  Peyster,  "  I  will 
go  to  Albany  as  its  representative  and  procure  from  the  Legislature  an 
appropriation  sufficient  to  pay  all  its  debts." 

"  If  you  shall  do  that,"  responded  King;  "  interest  the  State  Legis- 
lature so  substantially  in  our  affairs,  you  will  make  the  New  York 
Historical  Society  one  of  the  leading  institutions  of  our  country." 

Mr.  De  Peyster  was  invested  with  proper  authority.  He  went  to 
Albany,  laid  a  petition  for  the  relief  of  the  New  York  Historical 
Society  before  the  Legislature,  with  a  large  number  of  whose  members 

corresponding  secretary  again  in  1838,  and  remained  in  that  position  until  1843.  In 
18(54  he  was  elected  president  of  the  society  ;  held  the  office  two  years  ;  was  re-elected  in 
1873,  and  continued  to  hold  the  position  until  the  time  of  his  death,  August  17,  1882. 
His  gifts  to  the  society  were  many  and  valuable.  Some  of  the  choicest  books  and  works 
of  art  in  its  collection  are  his  contributions.  One  of  the  most  attractive  of  the  latter  is 
Crawford's  colossal  marble  statue  of  an  Indian  sitting  in  a  contemplative  attitude,  enti- 
tled "  The  Last  of  His  Race."  He  purchased  it  after  Crawford's  death  for  $4000.  Mr. 
de  Peyster  was  also  a  generous  patron  of  art,  as  his  home  in  University  Place  attested, 
and  was  always  ready  to  contribute  to  funds  for  the  erection  of  statues  of  eminent  men 
in  his  native  city.  On  anniversary  and  other  celebrations  of  important  events  he  was 
always  active,  and  was  frequently  called  upon  to  address  the  assemblage,  which  was 
always  done  in  a  happy  manner.  He  was  also  active  in  all  benevolent  movements,  and 
held  an  office  of  some  kind  in  a  score  of  different  societies.  He  was  also  an  earnest 
promoter  of  the  cause  of  popular  education,  and  his  interest  in  his  alma  mater  (Columbia 
College)  was  warm  and  active  until  the  close  of  his  life. 

While  Mr.  de  Peyster  was  master  in  chancery  he  war,  employed  by  a  committee  of  the 
Tontine  Coffee-House  Association  as  an  expert  to  ascertain  the  value  of  the  lives  of  the 
nominees.  He  soon  afterward  became  a  member  of  that  association,  and  was  one  of  the 
last,  if  not  the  very  last,  survivors  of  that  famous  organization.  He  was  elected  a  trustee 
of  the  New  York  Society  Library,  and  was  its  president  from  1870.  He  was  vice  president 
of  the  Home  for  Incurables,  and  one  of  the  directors  of  the  Institution  for  the  Instruc- 
tion of  the  Deaf  and  Dumb.  For  more  than  fifty  years  he  was  clerk  of  the  board  of 
trustees  of  the  Leake  and  Watts  Orphan  Asylum,  founded  by  his  father-in-law,  John 
Watts.  He  was  an  active  and  most  efficient  member  of  the  St.  Nicholas  Society  and 
president  of  the  St.  Nicholas  Club.  Our  space  will  not  allow  the  mention  of  more  of  the 
objects  of  his  care  and  untiring  labors. 

Mr.  de  Peyster  was  chosen  to  deliver  an  address  on  the  occasion  of  the  centennial 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


163 


he  was  personally  acquainted,  and  urged  his  suit  with  so  much  logic 
and  such  weighty  reasons  for  granting  the  prayer,  that  a  hill  speedily 
passed  hoth  houses  appropriating  $5000  for  the  relief  of  the  New  York 
Historical  Society.  The  hurden  of  debt  was  thus  removed,  and  the 
society  started  afresh  and  unembarrassed  in  its  career  of  usefulness  and 
honor. 

The  society  has  ever  since  gone  steadily  on  in  an  upward  journey, 
sometimes  struggling  with  poverty,  but  never  with  doubt,  and  some- 
times cheered  by  liberal  bequests  and  donations,  until  it  has  reached  its 
present  high  position  as  one  of  the  leading  and  most  useful  institutions 
of  the  metropolis. 

The  New  York  Historical  Society  possesses  a  library  of  more  than 
7o,ooo  volumes,  and  a  very  large  number  of  pamphlets,  maps,  and  files 
of  newspapers  ;  also  a  most  valuable  collection  of  inedited  manu- 
scripts, a  curious  collection  of  American  antiquities,  a  rare  and  exceed- 
ingly valuable  collection  of  Egyptian  antiquities,  and  the  largest  and 
rarest  permanent  gallery  of  works  of  art  on  the  American  continent. 

By  the  liberality  of  citizens  of  New  York  the  society  was  enabled  to 

celebration  of  American  independence  at  Independence  Hall,  Philadelphia,  in  187G. 
Several  of  his  occasional  addresses  have  been  published  in  handsome  book  form. 
He  was  an  earnest  classical  and  biblical  student  ;  indeed  no  department  of  learning 
escaped  his  notice,  and  often  engaged  his  profound  stud}7.  In  1867  Columbia  College 
conferred  upon  him  the  honorary  degree  of  LL.D.,  and  in  March,  1877,  the  Royal 
Historical  Society  of  Great  Britain,  "in  consideration  of  his  eminent  services  in  the 
cause  of  historical  and  antiquarian  research,'-  elected  him  an  Honorary  Fellow  of  that 
society. 

Mr.  de  Feyster  was  married  in  his  early  manhood  to  the  lovely  and  accomplished  Mary 
Justina  Watts,  daughter  of  John  Watts,  the  last  royal  recorder  of  New  York  City.  She 
lived  only  thirteen  months  after  his  marriage,  dying  on  July  28,  1821.  She  left  an  infant 
son,  who  is  General  J.  Watts  de  Feyster.  It  was  at  Rose  Hill,  the  country  seat  of  this 
son,  at  Tivoli  on  the  Hudson,  that  Mr.  de  Peyster  died,  after  a  short  illness.  The 
funeral  services  were  held  at  St.  Paul's  Church,  at  Tivoli,  and  were  conducted  by  the 
rector  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Dix,  rector  of  Trinity  Church,  New  York. 

General  J.  Watts  de  Peyster,  his  only  child,  has  inherited  his  name  and  fortune.  He 
was  born  in  March,  1821.  He  has  attained  to  much  distinction  as  the  author  of  valuable 
works  on  military  and  historical  subjects.  The  former  have  won  for  him  the  warmest 
encomiums  of  military  commanders.  Some  years  ago  he  wrote  an  interesting  biography 
of  the  Swedish  Field-Marshal  Torstcnson,  famous  in  the  seventeenth  century.  So 
pleased  with  this  biography  was  Oscar  I.,  King  of  Sweden,  that  he  expressed  his  pleasure 
by  presenting  the  general  with  three  handsome  medals.  Like  his  father,  General  de 
Peyster  is  well  and  honorably  known,  not  only  in  the  city  but  throughout  the  country. 
Three  of  his  sons  served  in  the  late  war  for  the  preservation  of  the  Republic.  One  of 
them,  Lieutenant  J.  Livingston  de  Peyster,  had  the  honor  of  first  hoisting  the  national 
flag  on  the  capitol  at  Richmond  on  the  morning  after  the  Confederate  government  had 
fled,  which,  General  Grant  said,  "  put  the  seal  to  the  termination  of  the  rebellion." 


164 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


purchase  the  famous  Egyptian  collection  of  Dr.  Abbott  in  1859.  It  is 
by  far  the  most  interesting  collection  of  the  kind  in  this  country.  It 
contains  three  mummies  of  the  sacred  bull  Apis  found  in  the  tombs  of 
Dashour.  It  is  said  that  no  other  specimen  of  the  preserved  animal 
may  be  found  in  the  world.  The  collection  also  exhibits  some  rare 
works  of  art,  and  numerous  objects  which  illustrate  the  social  and 
domestic  life  of  the  ancient  Egyptians.  There  are  about  eleven  hun- 
dred and  thirty  pieces  in  the  collection,  every  one  of  which  is  a  study 
for  the  historian  and  the  antiquary. 

In  1856  the  society  determined  to  enlarge  and  extend  its  usefulness 
by  providing  a  public  gallery  of  line  arts  in  the  city  of  Xew  York. 
The  plan  was  devised  on  the  most  liberal  scale.  A  committee  on  fine 
arts  was  appointed,  and  constituted  a  part  of  the  administration  of  the 
society.  The  result  of  the  labors  of  that  committee  is  most  satisfac- 
tory. The  gallery  now  embraces,  in  addition  to  the  society's  original 
collection  of  paintings  and  sculpture,  the  Xew  York  Gallery  of  Eine 
Arts,  which  came  into  the  possession  of  this  institution  in  1858,  through 
the  exertions  of  the  late  Jonathan  Sturges,  an  active  and  liberal  mem- 
ber. That  collection  is  the  fruit  of  the  taste,  generosity,  and  munifi- 
cence of  Luman  Reed,  an  enterprising  merchant. 

The  gallery  also  embraces  the  remaining  pictures  of  the  American 
Art  Union,  also  the  justly  famous  Bryan  Gallery  of  Christian  Art,  so 
rich  in  pictures  by  the  old  masters  and  pi'e-Raphaelite  paintings.  This 
collection  Avas  generously  presented  to  the  society  in  1SG7  b}'  the  late 
Thomas  J.  Bryan,  who  continued  to  add  to  it  until  his  death.  The 
"  Durr  collection''  of  paintings  was  bequeathed  to  the  society  by  the 
late  Louis  Durr,  one  of  its  members,  in  ISSo,  and  was  placed  in  the 
gallery  in  June,  lss:>.  The  society  also  possesses  the  original  water- 
color  pictures  made  by  J.  J.  Audubon  for  his  great  work  on  natural 
history,  thirteen  specimens  of  ancient  sculpture  from  Nineveh,  pre- 
sented by  the  late  James  Lenox,  and  fifty-seven  pieces  of  modern 
sculpture  by  Crawford,  Browne,  and  others. 

The  entire  collection  of  paintings  and  statuary  belonging  to  the  Xew 
York  Historical  Society  numbers  nearly  one  thousand.  In  it  may  be 
seen  many  pre-Raphaelite  pictures,  and  paintings  by  Cimabue,  Gior- 
gione,  Correggio,  Raphael,  Titian,  Del  Sarto,  Da  Vinci,  Mnrillo,  Velas- 
quez, Rembrandt,  Paul  Yeronese,  Pouissin,  Yan  Dyck,  and  half  a  score 
of  other  renowned  artists.  For  lack  of  room  and  good  light  these 
pictures  appear  to  a  great  disadvantage,  while  the  marvellous  sculptures 
from  Nineveh  are  hidden  away  in  the  crypt  or  basement  room  of  the 
building. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


1G5 


So  rapid  lias  been  the  accumulation  of  the  archaic  and  other  riches 
(excepting-  money)  of  the  Historical  Society  during  the  last  few  years, 
that  larger  space  and  a  position  nearer  the  centre  of  the  class  of  popu- 
lation who  enjoy  and  would  profit  by  such  exquisite  pleasure  as  it  can 
afford  has  been  an  absolute  and  keenly  felt  necessity.  It  is  not  credit- 
able to  the  citizens  of  New  York,  so  widely  and  justly  praised  for  their 
enterprise,  abounding  wealth,  generosity,  intelligence,  and  aesthetic 
cultivation,  to  allow  this  venerable  society,  now  fourscore  years  of  age, 
with  all  its  wealth  of  possible  entertainment  and  instruction,  to  remain 
half  smothered  in  close  quarters,  year  after  year,  for  want  of  pecuniary 
means  to  expand  its  usefulness  and  become  one  of  the  most  attractive 
wonders  of  the  great  metropolis.  It  possesses  an  abundance  of  precious 
things  which  money  cannot  buy  and  the  world  cannot  afford  to  lose. 

The  present  number  of  the  members  of  the  Historical  Society  is 
about  two  thousand  —  life,  resident,  corresponding,  ami  honorary. 
They  embrace  the  best  elements  of  society  in  New  York.  It  has  no 
debts,  no  mortgage  on  its  building  or  its  collections,  and  no  outstanding- 
bills.* 

Thk  New  York  Typogkaphicai  Society  ranks  among  the  older  of 
the  benevolent  institutions  of  New  York  City.  It  is  believed  to  be  the 
oldest  benevolent  association  of  printers  in  the  United  States.  Its 
nativity  w  as  in  the  year  1S09,  and  its  natal  day  was  the  twenty -third 
anniversary  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

The  avowed  object  of  the  society  was  "  the  relief  of  the  indigent  and 
distressed  members  of  the  association,  their  widows  and  orphans,  and 
others  who  may  be  found  proper  objects  of  their  charity.*'  To  this 
purpose  it  has  been  religiously  faithful,  and  its  record  is  a  noble  one. 

The  society  was  incorporated  by  the  Legislature  of  New  York  in 
ISIS.  The  late  Thurlow  "Weed,  who  became  a  member  of  the  associa- 
tion in  October,  1816,  was  chairman  of  the  committee  who  procured 
the  charter,  and  he  would  refer  to  it  as  his  first  effort  as  a  "  lobbyist.'' 
He  was  then  twenty-one  years  of  age.  To  effect  its  benevolent  pur- 
poses the  society  was  allowed  by  the  charter  to  hold  real  and  personal 
estate  to  the  amount  of  $5000.  In  case  of  sickness  or  other  disability 
a  member  was  allowed  a  prescribed  sum  per  week  from  the  treasury  ; 
in  case  of  death  a  specific  sum  was  given  toward  paying  the  expenses 

*  The  officers  of  the  society  for  1883  are  :  Augustus  Schell,  president  ;  Hamilton  Fish, 
first  vice-president  ;  Benjamin  H.  Field,  second  vice-president  ;  William  M.  Evarts,  for- 
eign corresponding  secretary  ;  Edward  F.  De  Lancey,  domestic  corresponding  secretary  ; 
Andrew  Warner,  recording  secretary  ;  Benjamin  B.  Sherman,  treasurer  ;  Jacob  B.  Moore, 
librarian. 


166 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


of  the  funeral.  Moderate  sums  were  allowed  to  widows  of  members, 
and  to  full-orphaned  children  of  members  for  a  short  time.  In  no  case 
has  the  family  of  a  living'  member  an}r  claim  on  the  funds  of  the  society. 

The  limited  charter  of  the  society  was  renewed  in  1832,  for  fifteen 
years,  and  in  April,  1S47,  it  was  organized  under  the  general  law  of  the 
State  for  charitable  and  benevolent  institutions.  Its  present  revised 
constitution  has  transferred  the  association  from  a  relief  society  to  meet 
the  urgent  necessities  of  the  indigent  and  distressed  into  a  benefit  society, 
from  which  every  member,  when  sick,  by  conforming  to  the  provisions 
of  the  constitution  and  by-laws,  may  draw  a  certain  amount  without 
regard  to  his  pecuniary  condition. 

During  its  long  career  the  New  York  Typographical  Society  has 
never  failed  to  meet  all  demands  against  its  treasury,  and  has  at  this 
time  quite  a  large  fund  securely  and  profitably  invested.  It  also  pos- 
sesses a  library  of  over  four  thousand  volumes,  some  of  which  are  ex- 
ceedingly rare  and  valuable. 

For  many  years  in  the  earlier  period  of  the  history  of  the  Typo- 
graphical Society  it  took  part  in  nearly  all  of  the  civic  processions.  It 
bore  a  conspicuous  part,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  great  celebration  of 
the  completion  of  the  Erie  Canal.  The  last  public  occasion  in  which  it 
participated  was  the  celebration  of  the  successful  lavingof  the  telegraph 
ocean  cable  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  in  1S58. 

Benjamin  Franklin  being  recognized,  by  common  consent,  as  the 
"patron  saint"  of  printers,  his  birthday  was  honored  by  the  Typo- 
graphical Society  for  many  years,  usually  in  the  form  of  a  banquet, 
sometimes  by  an  entertainment.  The  late  William  Oullen  Bryant  was 
a  favorite  president  at  the  banquets,  and  John  Brougham  managed  the 
entertainments.  These  have  been  abandoned  of  late  years,  and  the 
society  has  taken  its  place  among  the  quiet  workers  for  the  good  of 
fellow-men. 

During  its  existence  of  more  than  half  a  century  since  receiving  its 
charter  the  New  York  Typographical  Society  has  had  only  four  treas- 
urers— George  Mather,  James  Xarine,  J.  G.  Clayton,  and  George 
Parsons — the  latter  still  in  office.  T.  C.  Faulkner  was  its  secretary  for 
twenty-one  consecutive  years.  The  society  has  embraced  in  its  mem- 
bership many  who  have  not  only  reflected  honor  upon  the  profession, 
but  upon  our  country.  Now  its  list  of  membership  contains  the  names 
of  many  of  the  most  influential  printers  in  the  city.* 

*  The  officers  of  the  New  York  Typographical  Society  for  1883  are  :  Edward  Meagher, 
president ;  John  Brnsnahan,  vice-president ;  George  Parsons,  treasurer  ;  R.  H.  Creasing- 


FIRST  DECADE,  1S30-1840. 


1G7 


On  the  3d  of  November,  1820,  at  the  office  of  the  New  York  Com- 
mercial A<lr<  rtis<  r.  William  Wood  posted  a  call  for  a  meeting  of  mer- 
chants' clerics  on  the  10th,  at  a  room  in  the  Tontine  Coffee-IIouse,  to 
consider  a  plan  for  establishing  a  library  and  reading-room.  The  call 
was  addressed  to  "  the  clerks  of  South  Street,  Front  Street,  Pearl 
Street,  and  Maiden  Lane."  That  original  "  poster"  is  preserved  in 
the  great  library,  which  is  the  flourishing  product  of  that  tiny  germ. 

The  meeting  comprised  about  two  hundred  merchants'  clerks.  A 
plan  was  agreed  to.  On  the  27th  of  the  same  month  a  constitution 
was  adopted  and  officers  were  elected,  with  Lucius  Bull  as  president. 
On  the  12th  of  February  following,  in  an  upper  room  of  the  building 
known  as  No.  40  Fulton  Street,  the  association  was  formally  ushered 
into  existence,  by  the  presence  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  members  (the 
total  number  of  subscribers)  and  the  deposit  of  about  seven  hundred 
volumes  of  books. 

The  association  had  a  feeble  existence — a  struggle  for  life — for  several 
years.  The  clerks  could  not,  for  a  long  time,  induce  the  merchants  to 
countenance  their  undertaking  or  give  them  aid.  At  length  (1S2(!)  the 
library  was  removed  to  the  printing  establishment  of  Harper  & 
Brothers,  No.  82  Cliff  Street,  Avhere  that  now  great  publishing  house 
was  just  feeling  the  peace  and  joy  of  assured  business  prosperity. 
There  the  association  had  a  reading-room  in  connection  with  the 
library,  which  was  furnished  with  four  weekly  newspapers  and  seven 
magazines.  The  merchants  now  began  to  take  an  interest  in  the  new 
enterprise,  and  soon  began  to  give  the  association  pecuniary  aid.  The 
year  1 820  was  the  beginning  of  the  era  of  the  real  growth  and  an  ever- 
expanding  field  of  usefulness  for  The  Mercantile  Library  Association 
of  the  Cm*  of  New  York.  Before  the  close  of  that  year  the  library 
contained  six  thousand  volumes. 

In  1S2S  a  separate  organization  was  effected  for  the  purpose  of  erect- 
ing a  building  for  a  permanent  home  for  the  library,  to  be  enjoyed 
without  expense  or  any  incumbrance.    Arthur  Tappan,*  a  silk  nier- 

ham,  secretary  ;  C.  C.  Savage,  H.  Bessey,  W.  Marshall,  and  S.  F.  Baxter,  trustees,  and 
ten  directors. 

*  Arthur  Tappan  was  born  in  Northampton,  Mass.,  in  May,  178(5.  and  died  in  New 
Haven,  Conn.,  in  July,  18C5.  He  received  a  common-school  education,  was  clerk  in  a 
hardware  store  in  Boston,  and  also  engaged  with  his  brother  Lewis  in  the  dry-goods  busi- 
ness in  that  city.  Arthur  finally  went  to  Montreal,  but  when  the  war  of  1812  broke  out 
he  went  to  New  York  City,  and  established  himself  in  the  dry-goods  importing  business 
in  1814.  He  was  very  prosperous,  very  religious,  and  very  benevolent.  He  was  one  of 
the  founders  of  the  American  Tract  Society,  and  gave  liberally  to  its  building  fund.  He 
gave  largely  toward  the  establishment  of  the  Lane  (Presbyterian)  Theological  Seminary  at 


168 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


chant,  headed  a  subscription  with  a  liberal  sum.  The  required  amount 
of  money  was  soon  raised,  a  building  was  erected  at  the  corner  of 
Beekman  and  Nassau  streets,  and  on  November  2,  1830,  it  was  dedi- 
cated with  the  title  of  k*  Clinton  Hall,"  in  honor  of  De  "Witt  Clinton, 
then  the  foremost  man  in  the  city  and  the  State,  and  who  gave  the 
first  book  to  the  Mercantile  Library — a  "  History  of  England."  The 
persons  who  caused  the  erection  of  the  hall  were  known  collectively  by 
the  name  of  '*  The  Clinton  Hall  Association." 

Only  about  twenty  years  afterward  it  was  found  that  the  accommo- 
dations in  Clinton  Hall  were  too  limited  for  the  rapidly  increasing 
number  of  books  in  the  library.  It  was  observed,  too,  that  the  popula- 
tion was  deserting  that  quarter  of  the  city.  So,  after  much  delibera- 
tion, the  association  purchased  the  Astor  Place  Opera-House,  which 
was  fitted  up  with  a  capacity  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand 
volumes.  In  1854  the  library  was  moved  into  the  new  home,  a  dis- 
tance of  two  miles  from  its  former  dwelling-place.  Soon  afterward  the 
old  hall  was  pulled  down,  and  on  its  site  the  Nassau  Bank  erected  a 
handsome  building  of  light  brown  stone.  It,  too,  has  been  pulled 
down,  and  in  its  place  has  risen  Temple  Court,  a  lofty  structure  of 
brick  and  stone,  ten  stories  in  height,  the  property  of  Eugene  Kelly,  a 
banker. 

In  the  new  Clinton  Hall  at  Astor  Place  the  Mercantile  Library  Asso- 
ciation still  lingers  with  its  library,  but  will  probably  soon  take  another 
long  stride  northward,  for  now  the  centre  of  population  is  nearer  Mur- 
ray II  ill.  Besides,  even  now  its  home  is  too  narrow  for  the  literary 
family  that  occupies  it.  At  the  time  of  the  removal  of  the  association 
to  Astor  I 'lace  it  had  a  membership  of  about  three  thousand  merchants' 
clerks,  and  the  library  consisted  of  about  twenty  thousand  volumes  ;  in 
lss.->,  the  number  of  persons  entitled  to  the  use  of  the  library  and 
reading-room— active  and  subscribing  members,  honorary  members, 
editors  using  the  library,  and  Clinton  Hall  stockholders — was  about 

Cincinnati,  founded  a  professorship  in  Auburn  Seminary,  and  erected  Tappan  Hall  at 
Oberlin.  With  his  brother  Lewis,  who  removed  from  Boston  to  New  York  in  1827,  he 
established  the  New  York  Journal  of  Commerce.  He  was  one  of  the  early  and  most  vigor- 
ous opponents  of  slavery,  and  established  the  Emancipator  in  1833  as  the  organ  of  the  New 
York  Anti-Slavery  Society,  of  which  he  was  one  of  the  chief  founders.  He  was  made 
president  of  the  American  Anti  Slavery  Society,  organized  in  Philadelphia,  to  which 
for  some  time  he  gave  $1000  a  month.  The  financial  troubles  of  1837  ruined  their 
house.  Lewis  established  a  mercantile  agency,  and  in  this  business  Arthur  joined  him 
in  1842.  He  had  given  up  all  his  property  to  his  creditors,  and  never  lost  his  reputa- 
tion as  an  honest  man.  To  the  end  of  his  life  he  was  the  same  earnest  and  benevolent 
Christian. 


/ 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840.  109 

seven  thousand.  The  association  is  clear  of  debt.  The  number  of 
books  in  the  library  (18S3)  was  over  200,000.* 

The  American  Institute  of  the  City  of  New  York  was  organized 
in  1S28  by  a  few  enterprising  citizens,  it  is  said,  who  met  in  a  small 
room  in  Tammany  Hall,  corner  of  Spruce  and  Nassau  streets.  Its  ob- 
jects were  to  encourage  and  promote  domestic  industry  in  the  United 
States  by  bestowing  rewards  and  other  benefits  on  persons  excelling 
or  making  improvements  in  the  branches  of  agriculture,  commerce, 
manufactures,  and  the  arts.  This  is  the  accepted  history  of  the  origin 
of  the  American  Institute.  Its  origin  may  be  found  in  a  notable  move- 
ment at  an  earlier  date.  In  the  spring  of  1S2S  Peter  II.  Schenck,  the 
founder  of  the  Glenham  Manufacturing  Company,  in  Dutchess  County, 
N.  Y.,  issued  a  call  for  a  convention  of  woollen  manufacturers  to 
assemble  at  the  Eagle  Hotel,  in  Albany.  Only  three  persons  responded 
.  to  the  call,  namely,  Peter  H.  Schenck  and  Elias  Titus,  of  Dutchess 
County,  and  William  Phillips,  of  Orange  County,  N.  Y.  Not  dis- 
couraged by  this  seeming  indifference,  these  three  woollen  manufac- 
turers organized  a  convention  by  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Phillips 
president,  Mr.  Titus  vice-president,  and  Mr.  Schenck  secretary.  They 
passed  a  series  of  resolutions,  and  authorized  the  secretary  to  call  a 
national  convention  in  the  city  of  New  York.  It  was  done,  and 
Clinton  Hall,  then  lately  erected,  was  designated  as  the  place  for  the 
meeting  of  the  convention,  early  in  the  summer. 

There  was  a  numerous  attendance  of  woollen  manufacturers  at  Clin- 
ton Hall  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  They  organized  an  association. 
Cotton  manufacturers  were  admitted  to  it,  and  finally  practitioners  of 
all  trades  ;  and  at  a  meeting  in  the  fall  the  association  assumed  the 
name  of  "  The  American  Institute,"  which  it  still  bears.  + 

The  Legislature  of  New  York  granted  the  Institute  a  charter  of 
incorporation  in  1829.    Its  first  president  was  William  Few,  whose 

*  The  association  has  had  fifty-five  presidents.  The  officers  for  1881-82  were  :  Charles 
H.  Patrick,  president  ;  A.  H.  Timpson,  vice-president  :  Robert  L.  Coursen,  treasurer,  and 
A.  Wetrnore,  Jr.,  secretary. 

f  Elias  Titus  was  the  last  survivor  of  the  three  real  founders  of  the  American  Institute. 
He  died  in  July,  1880.  At  the  time  of  the  little  convention  at  Albany  he  had  just  estab- 
lished a  woollen-mill  on  Wappinger's  Creek,  four  or  five  miles  from  Poughkeepsie. 
For  many  years  previous  to  his  death  it  was  carried  on  under  the  firm  name  of  Elias 
Titus  &  Sons.  The  sons  still  continue  the  business.  It  is  a  notable  fact  that  during 
the  long  period  of  fifty-four  years,  so  skilfully  has  the  establishment  been  conducted  and 
so  unsuspected  has  been  the  business  standing  of  its  proprietors  in  all  the  vicissitudes  of 
business,  the  mills  have  never  suspended  work  excepting  in  the  case  of  an  accident  or  for 
the  purpose  of  making  repairs. 


170 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


name  appeal's  prominent  in  many  public  movements  for  the  benefit  of 
society  at  that  time.  John  Mason  was  the  first  vice-president.  Potter 
Ellis  treasurer,  and  Thaddeus  B.  Wakeman  corresponding  secretary. 
Mr.  Wakeman  "was  for  more  than  twenty  veal's  one  of  the  most  active 
members  of  the  Institute.  Indeed,  he  has  been  called  the  father  of  the 
American  Institute.  He  served  it  as  secretary  from  1828  till  1848, 
excepting  one  year. 

The  first  manufacturers'  fair  or  exhibition  of  the  American  Institute 
was  held  in  the  Masonic  Hall,  which  stood  on  Broadway  near  Pearl 
Street,  and  nearly  opposite  the  City  Hospital.  The  Hon.  Edward 
Everett,  then  thirty-four  years  of  age,  delivered  the  first  anniversary 
address  in  L829.  It  was  a  brilliant  display  of  oratory.  The  address 
was  published,  and  went  through  two  or  three  editions.  The  fair  was 
a  great  success  in  every  respect. 

After  holding  five  other  fairs  at  the  Masonic  Hall,  it  was  necessary  to 
have  more  ample  room.  Xiblo's  Garden,  on  Broadway  near  Prince 
Street,  was  chosen  for  the  purpose.  Many  shook  their  heads  in  doubt 
when  this  spot  was  selected  so  far  up  town.  But  the  fair  was  well 
attended,  and  the  exhibitions  were  held  there,  with  ever-increasing 
popularity,  until  the  place  was  consumed  by  fire  in  1n4<'». 

Castle  Garden,  at  the  Battery,  was  next  selected  as  the  place  for  the 
annual  exhibition,  and  there  they  were  held  for  seven  successive  years. 
Then  the  managei-s  of  the  Institute  took  a  bolder  step  than  when  they 
chose  Niblo's  Garden  for  their  place  of  exhibition.  The  Crystal  Pal- 
ace, built  in  1853  for  the  exhibition  of  the  industries  of  all  nations,  was 
standing  empty.  The  managers  of  the  Institute  chose  it  for  their  fair 
in  1855.  It  was  on  the  northern  verge  of  the  more  refined  society, 
occupying  a  portion  of  Reservoir  Square,  between  Fortieth  and  Forty- 
second  strcrts.  The  late  exhibitions  had  made  the  citizens  acquainted 
with  that  remote  region,  and  the  fair  was  successful.  In  that  "  pal- 
ace" three  other  fairs  were  successively  held,  when,  on  a  bright  day  in 
October  (5th),  1858,  fire  assai led  the  building  and  the  rich  collections 
of  the  American  Institute,  and  laid  them  in  ashes  in  the  space  of  one 
hour. 

It  was  supposed  by  some  that  this  terrible  blow  would  be  fatal  to  the 
American  Institute.  It  reeled,  but  did  not  fall.  Adversity  stimulated 
increased  activity,  and  to  the  surprise  of  many  the  Institute  held  a 
fair  the  next  year  in  Palace  Garden,  in  Fourteenth  Street,  on  the  site  of 
the  (present)  armory  of  the  Twenty-second  Regiment.  There  the 
Institute  fairs  were  held  for  several  successive  years,  and  these  were 
uniformly  profitable. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


171 


For  forty  years  the  American  Institute  had  been  a  wanderer.  It 
yearned  for  a  home — a  more  spacious  one,  and  possibly  a  permanent 
one.  On  Third  Avenue,  between  Sixty-third  and  Sixty -fourth  streets, 
was  a  large  building-  which  had  been  erected  for  a  skating  rink.  These 
premises  the  Institute  leased  in  1S68.  Three  buildings  w  ere  added  to 
the  rink,  when  the  whole  covered  forty  building  lots  hot  ween  Second 
and  Third  avenues.  There  is  ample  space  fov  the  exhibitions,  which 
are  kept  open  several  weeks.  There  is  a  promenade  concert  given  each 
evening  during  the  exhibition,  which  attracts  young  people. 

The  office  and  other  rooms  of  the  Institute  are  in  the  Cooper  Union. 
The  library,  established  in  1833  by  contributions  of  $5  each  from  mem- 
bers of  the  Institute,  contains  over  eleven  thousand  volumes.  The 
purchases  of  books  have  been  confined  to  works  on  agriculture,  chem- 
istry, and  the  industrial  arts.  The  Institute  is  divided  into  three 
sections — namely,  the  Fanners'  Club,  under  the  direction  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Agriculture  ;  the  Polytechnic  Section,  under  the  direction  of 
the  Committee  on  Manufactures  ;  and  the  Photographical  Section, 
under  the  direction  of  the  Committee  on  Chemistry  and  Optics.  The 
Institute  is  governed  by  a  board  of  trustees,  elected  by  the  members.* 

The  cultivation  of  the  fine  arts  had  not  been  conspicuous  in  the  city 
of  New  York  during  the  first  half  of  the  present  century,  and  only  a 
single  institution  professedly  devoted  to  the  promotion  of  a  taste  for 
pictures  existed.  It  maintained  only  a  feeble  existence  from  the 
pabulum  of  public  patronage. 

The  first  school  of  art  in  the  city  was  opened  about  1792  by  Archi- 
bald Robertson,  a  young  Scotchman,  who  came  to  America  on  the 
invitation  of  Dr.  Kemp,  of  Columbia  College.  His  advent  was  under 
very  favorable  auspices.  He  was  the  bearer  of  the  famous  box,  made 
of  the  oak  tree  that  sheltered  Wallace,  which  the  Earl  of  Buchan  sent 
to  President  Washington,  with  a  request  that  he  should  allow  Robert- 
son to  paint  his  portrait.  The  President  graciously  complied.  He 
invited  the  young  artist  to  dinner,  and  both  he  and  Mrs.  Washington 
sat  to  Robertson,  who  painted  their  portraits  in  miniature.  That  of 
Washington  he  copied  in  oil,  the  natural  size,  and  sent  it  to  the  earl. 

Young  Robertson  opened  a  seminary  for  teaching  the  arts  of  design 
in  water-colors  and  crayon,  and  called  it  the  Columbia  Academy  of 
Painting.    He  was  quite  successful,  and  when,  ten  years  afterward, 

*  The  officers  of  the  Institute  for  1883  are  :  Cyrus  H.  Loutrel,  president  ;  Thomas 
Rutterand  Walter  Shriver,  -vice-presidents  :  Charles  McK.  Loeser.  secretary,  and  Edward 
Schel),  treasurer. 


172 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


the  association  alluded  to  was  formed  for  the  cultivation  of  a  taste  for 
the  fine  arts,  he  assisted  in  the  task  with  his  knowledge  and  advice. 

This  association  had  been  suggested  by  Robert  It.  Livingston,  who 
was  the  United  States  minister  at  the  court  of  First  Consul  Bonaparte. 
An  association  was  formed  in  1S02,  and  was  composed  chiefly  of  gen- 
tlemen of  every  profession  excepting  artists.  John  R.  Murray,  a  mer- 
chant of  taste  and  liberality,  furnished  the  means  for  procuring  from 
Europe,  through  Minister  Livingston,  a  fair  collection  of  casts  from 
antique  sculptures.  The  society  was  fully  organized  on  December  3, 
1802,  with  Edward  Livingston  as  president.  It  was  incorporated  in 
February,  1808,  with  the  title  of  "  The  American  Academy  of  Fine 
Arts." 

The  casts  that  were  sent  over  by  Minister  Livingston  were  partly 
presents  from  Bonaparte,  in  acknowledgment  of  the  compliment  of  hon- 
orary membership  which  the  association  had  bestowed  upon  him.  He 
afterward  sent  to  the  Academy  twenty-four  lai'ge  volumes  of  Italian 
engravings  and  several  portfolios  of  drawings. 

The  liberal  design  of  the  founders  of  the  Academy  to  establish  a 
museum  of  the  fine  arts  in  the  city  of  New  York  was  not  carried  out. 
After  two  unsuccessful  exhibitions  of  the  casts  and  a  few  pictures,  the 
former  were  stored,  and  remained  useless  and  unknown  for  many  years. 
Indeed  the  very  existence  of  the  Academy  was  almost  forgotten  by  the 
public.  Finally,  in  1816,  an  effort  was  made  to  resuscitate  the  Acad- 
emy. Leading  citizens  gave  their  countenance  and  support.  Among 
the  most  active  of  these  were  De  Witt  Clinton,  Dr.  Hosack,  Cadwalla- 
der  Colden,  and  other  influential  citizens.  Clinton  was  made  president 
of  the  Academy.  Room  was  procured  of  the  city  authorities  in  the 
old  almshouse  (on  the  site  of  the  new  Court- 1  louse),  and  there,  in 
October  of  that  year,  the  casts  and  many  excellent  pictures  were 
exhibited,  Joseph  Bonaparte  (also  an  honorary  member)  lending  some 
from  his  rare  collection  for  the  purpose.  The  exhibition  was  a  novelty, 
and  the  receipts  exceeded  all  expectation. 

Clinton  was  succeeded  in  the  presidency  by  Colonel  John  Trumbull, 
then  almost  seventy  years  of  age.  Trumbull  inaugurated  a  narrow  and 
unwise  policy  in  the  management  of  the  institution,  and  it  soon  declined 
in  public  favor.  Instead  of  being  a  school  of  art,  it  became  a  society 
for  the  exhibition  of  pictures,  and  the  same  pictures  were  exhibited 
season  after  season.  The  novelty  was  gone,  and  the  public  withdrew 
its  patronage.  Another  institution  sprang  into  vigorous  competition 
for  public  favor,  and  in  a  few  years  the  American  Academy  of  Fine 
Arts  expired. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


173 


A  catalogue  of  the  tenth  exhibition  of  the  American  Academy  of 
Fine  Arts  lies  before  me.  It  denotes  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  pieces 
in  the  exhibition — paintings,  sculpture,  and  engravings.  These  were 
mostly  the  same  pictures  that  hung  on  the  walls  in  1810.  There  were 
a  few  new  ones  by  living  artists  in  America.  Of  these  one  half  were 
from  the  hand  of  Colonel  Trumbull,  the  president  of  the  Academy. 
The  living  local  contributors  were  only  sixteen  in  number.*  What 
a  contrast  was  this  exhibition,  less  than  sixty  years  ago,  with  the 
exhibitions  to-day  of  the  National  Academy  of  the  Arts  of  Design,  the 
successor  of  the  American  Academy  of  Fine  Arts.  The  catalogue  of 
the  fifty-eighth  annual  exhibition  (1SS3)  of  the  last-named  institution 
denotes  seven  hundred  and  forty-six  pieces  and  four  hundred  and  fifty- 
one  artists.    Xot  one  of  the  pieces  was  ever  exhibited  before. 

The  officers  of  the  American  Academy  of  Fine  Arts  at  the  time  of 
its  demise  were  :  John  Trumbull,  president,  and  Archibald  Robertson, 
secretary  and  keeper.  The  directors  were  :  William  Gracie,  Benjamin 
W.  Rogers,  Henry  F.  Rogers,  Gulian  C.  Verplanck,  Archibald  Rob- 
ertson, Henry  Brevoort,  Jr.,  Samuel  L.  Waldo,  Philip  Hone,  Ezra 
"Weeks,  William  Cooper,  and  J.  Yan  Rensselaer,  M.D.  The  academi- 
cians were  :  Jobn  Trumbull,  William  S.  Leney,  John  Macomb,  Samuel 
L.  Waldo,  William  Dunlap,  Peter  Maverick,  Archibald  Robertson, 
Alexander  Robertson,  Alexander  Anderson,  William  Rollins,  G.  B. 
Brown,  A.  Dickinson,  John  Vanderlyn,  and  J.  O'Donnel. 

*  These  were  John  Trumbull,  John  Wesley^  Jarvis,  William  Dunlap,  G.  Marsiglia,  C.  C. 
Ingham,  Henry  Inman,  Waldo  and  Jewell,  Rembrandt  Peale,  N.  Rogers,  James  Herring, 
Jr.,  X.  Jocelyn,  W.  Birch,  Miss  Peale,  William  Wall,  A.  B.  Durand  (engraving  of  Trum- 
bull's "  Declaration  of  Independence"),  and  Gilbert  Stuart. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


THE  National  Academy  of  the  Arts  of  Design,  it  has  been 
observed,  was  the  competitor  for  public  fame  and  the  successor  of 
the  American  Academy  of  Fine  Arts.  It  was  the  logical  product  of 
the  narrow,  ungenerous,  and  unwise  policy  of  the  latter  institution. 

When  Colonel  John  Trumbull,  a  soldier  in  and  an  artist  of  the  period 
of  the  old  war  for  independence,  became  president  of  the  American 
Academy  of  Fine  Arts  in  New  York,  on  the  retirement  of  De  Witt 
Clinton,  he  introduced  a  policy  which  was  calculated  to  repress  rather 
than  to  encourage  the  aspirations  of  those  who  felt  the  inspiration  of 
inborn  genius  for  art.  Trumbull  had  lived  to  the  life-period  of 
"threescore  and  ten,"  and  during  a  time  when  there  was  very  little 
encouragement,  either  in  words  of  praise  or  offerings  of  money,  for  the 
practitioner  of  the  fine  arts.  Almost  the  only  branch  of  fine  art  in 
America  productive  of  a  livelihood  for  the  artist  was  that  of  portrait 
painting.  It  ministered  to  egotism,  and  was  patronized.  Therefore 
Trumbull,  who  aspired  to  the  position  of  an  historic  painter,  had  been 
full  of  grievous  disappointments  ;  and  in  comparative  poverty  tow- 
ard the  end  of  his  earthly  life,  he  seems  to  have  felt  that  a  part  of 
his  future  benevolent  mission  in  society  was  to  prevent  clever  young 
men  from  following  his  unproductive  profession  as  a  vocation.  To  the 
admirable  artist,  the  now  venerable  "Weir,  when  the  youth  showed  him 
evidences  of  genius  and  asked  his  advice,  the  veteran  said,  "  You  had 
better  make  shoes  than  attempt  to  paint  them."  And  to  the  bright 
and  enthusiastic  boy,  Agate,  when  the  lad  timidly  showed  the  Nestor 
some  of  his  excellent  sketches,  Trumbull  said,  "  Go  saw  wood  !" 

Yet  Trumbull  was  not  naturally  a  churl.  He  was  a  kind-hearted, 
courteous  gentleman,  a  scholar,  a  true  lover  of  art  and  sincere  admirer 
of  genius.  But  he  had  become  soured  by  vicissitudes,  and  was  totally 
unfitted  by  circumstances  for  the  important  position  of  chief  manager 
of  such  an  institution  as  he  then  controlled. 

Colonel  Trumbull  persistently  opposed  the  establishment  of  schools 
of  art  in  connection  with  the  Academy,  and  when  the  directors  had 
resolved  to  do  so,  he  imposed  such  restrictions  and  allowed  such 


FIRST  DECADE,  1S30-1840. 


175 


embarrassments  that  young-  students  were  practically  prohibited  from 
availing  themselves  of  the  privilege  of  drawing  from  the  casts  in  the 
Academy.  It  was  stipulated  that  they  should  draw  only  in  summer, 
and  then  between  the  hours  of  six  and  nine  in  the  morning.  Those 
who  attempted  to  comply  with  these  rules  were  often  subjected  to 
indignities  at  the  hands  of  a  surly  janitor,  who  "  put  on  airs"  because 
lie  had  been  a  "  Continental  soldier,"  and  this  conduct  was  ever 
unrebuked  by  the  president. 

An  unwise  revision  of  the  by-laws  of  the  Academy  was  made,  in 
which  discriminations  against  professional  artists  were  so  conspicuous 
that  they  felt  sorely  aggrieved.  It  was  decreed  that  academicians, 
not  to  exceed  twenty  in  number,  professional  artists,  should  be  chosen 
by  the  directors  from  the  stockholders.  As  few  artists  were  then  rich 
enough  to  become  stockholders,  the  number  of  academicians  was  verv 
small.  Only  three  artists  were  allowed  a  place  in  the  board  of  eleven 
directors,  and  so  artists  were  virtually  excluded  from  the  management 
of  the  institution.  None  but  "artists  of  distinguished  merit"  were 
permitted  to  exhibit  their  works,  while  amateurs  were  invited  "to 
expose  in  the  gallery  of  the  Academy  any  of  their  performances." 
These  discriminations  were  offensive  to  the  artists  of  the  city.  It 
effectually  barred  all  young  and  growing  artists  who  were  yet  k'  un- 
known to  fame"  from  exhibiting  works  in  the  Academy. 

At  length  an  open  rupture  between  the  city  artists  and  the  Academy 
occurred.  At  that  juncture  (early  in  1S25)  a  tall,  slender,  personally 
attractive  young  portrait  painter  was  among  the  aggrieved,  lie  had 
struggled  for  existence  in  the  city,  with  poverty  in  obscurity,  while 
waiting  for  commissions  ;  now  he  was  known  and  prosperous.  Social 
in  his  instincts,  kindly  in  his  nature,  he  had  beheld  with  much  concern 
that  the  artists  of  the  city  were  standing  apart,  in  an  attitude  of 
indifference  toward  each  other,  if  not  in  actual  antagonism.  This  state 
of  things  his  loving  nature  deplored,  and  by  his  winning  ways  and  manly 
words  he  had  succeeded  in  bringing  most  of  the  artists  into  fraternal 
social  relations  with  each  other.  This  was  a  most  auspicious  circum- 
stance at  this  critical  moment  in  the  history  of  the  fine  arts  in  the  city 
of  New  York.  There  was  a  perfect  sympathy  of  feeling  concerning 
the  grievances  of  the  city  artists,  and  they  were  ready  to  act  in  concert 
in  an  effort  to  provide  a  remedy  for  them.  The  artist  alluded  to  was 
Samuel  F.  B.  Morse,  afterward  the  famous  tamer  of  the  steeds  of 
Phaethon  to  the  common  intellectual  uses  of  man. 

Among  the  younger  of  the  aggrieved  artists  was  Thomas  S.  Cum- 
mings,  a  young  man  of  twenty-one  years,  and  a  student  with  Henry 


176 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Inman.*  In  consequence  of  a  personal  affront  and  persistent  injustice 
toward  art  students,  young  Cummings  drew  up  a  remonstrance  and 
petition  to  the  directors  of  the  Academy,  setting  forth  in  the  former 
the  grounds  of  complaint  by  the  artists,  and  in  the  latter  praying  that 
students  might  enjoy,  without  unnecessary  hindrance,  the  privileges  to 
which  the  directors  had  invited  them.  The  petition  was  warmly  com- 
mended by  the  artists.  Early  in  the  fall  of  1825  many  of  them  assem- 
bled at  the  studio  of  Mr.  Morse,  when  it  was  concluded  that  further 
efforts  to  conciliate  the  directors  and  managers  of  the  Academy  would 
be  useless,  for  there  was  a  potent  energy  within  the  government  of  the 
institution  inimical  to  the  artists,  and  uncontrollable  by  the  few  direct- 
ors who  took  an  active  interest  in  its  affairs.  The  petition  was  not 
presented. 

At  the  conference  in  his  studio  (Xo.  69  Broadway)  Morse  suggested 
that  an  association  might  be  formed  for  the  promotion  of  the  arts  of 
design  and  the  assistance  of  students,  composed  wholly  of  artists,  as 
such  an  association  ought  to  be.  This  suggestion  was  heartily  ap- 
proved, and  a  formal  meeting  of  the  artists  of  New  York  was  held  on 
the  evening  of  November  8,  1825,  in  the  rooms  of  the  New  York  His- 
torical Society.  Asher  Brown  Durand  was  called  to  the  chair,  and 
Mr.  Morse  was  appointed  secretary.  At  that  meeting  an  association, 
to  be  composed  of  architects,  painters,  sculptors,  and  engravers,  was 
organized,  and  called  "The  New  York  Drawing  Association,"  with 
Mr.  Morse  as  president.  Its  rules  were  few  and  simple.  They  pro- 
vided that  its  members  should  meet  in  the  evening,  three  times  a  week, 
for  drawing:  :  that  each  member  should  furnish  his  own  drawing:  mate- 
rials  ;  that  the  expenses  for  light,  fuel,  etc.,  should  be  paid  by  equal 
contributions  ;  that  new  members  should  be  admitted  on  a  majority 
vote,  on  the  payment  of  §5  entrance  fee,  and  that  the  lamp  should 

*  Henry  Inman  was  for  many  years  the  leading  portrait  painter  of  the  country.  He 
was  horn  in  Utica,  N.  Y.,  October,  1801.  He  became  a  pupil  of  John  Wesley  Jarvis,  and 
t  ally  excelled  in  the  painting  of  miniature  portraits.  He  afterward  devoted  his  labors 
almost  entirety  to  the  production  of  portraits  in  oil,  and  spent  some  time  in  Philadelphia 
and  Boston  in  the  pursuit  of  his  profession.  Failing  health  induced  him  to  visit  Eng- 
land in  1844,  where  he  painted  portraits  of  Dr.  Chalmers,  Wordsworth,  Macaulay,  and 
other  celebrated  men  then  living.  Returning  in  1845  with  unrestored  health,  he  un- 
dertook to  furnish  the  National  Capitol  with  a  series  of  pictures  illustrating  the  settle- 
ment of  the  West,  hut  did  not  complete  the  first  one  he  undertook.  He  was  a  versatile 
painter.  After  his  death  a  collection  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  of  his  pictures 
was  exhibited  for  the  henefit  of  his  family.  Mr.  Inman  was  at  one  time  vice-president 
of  the  National  Academy  of  the  Arts  of  Design.  He  had  exquisite  literary  taste,  and  wrote 
some  valuable  sketches.    He  died  in  New  York  in  January,  1846. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


177 


be  lighted  at  six  o'clock  and  extinguished  at  nine  o'clock  in  the 
evening. 

"  The  Lamp  !"  It  was  a  famous  illuminator,  which  was  extolled  in 
song  as 

"  A  bright  volcano  hoisted  high  in  air, 

Smoking  like  Etna,  shedding  lurid  light 
On  gods  and  goddesses  and  heroes  rare, 

Who  were  unmindful  of  their  dingy  plight." 

This  lamp  was  a  tin  can,  holding  about  half  a  gallon  of  oil,  with  a 
wick  four  inches  in  diameter,  and  set  upon  a  post  about  ten  feet  in 
height.  To  secure  sufficient  light  the  wick  was  kept  ''high,"  which 
made  it  smoke  intensely,  and  showers  of  lampblack  fell  softly  on  every 
object  in  the  room. 

The  organization  of  the  New  York  Drawing  Association  was  the 
planting  of  the  germ  of  the  National  Academy  of  the  Arts  of  Design. 
The  president  of  the  old  Academy  claimed  the  members  of  the 
Drawing  Association  as  students  of  the  elder  institution.  One  even- 
ing, a  few  weeks  after  their  organization,  Colonel  Trumbull  entered 
their  room  while  they  were  at  work,  took  the  president's  chair,  and 
beckoned  vounff  Cummincs  to  him.  lie  offered  him  the  matriculation 
book  of  the  Academy,  with  a  request  that  he  and  his  fellow-members 
should  enter  their  names  in  it  as  "  students  of  the  American  Academy 
of  Fine  Arts."  Cummings  politely  declined  to  receive  the  book,  and 
bowing  respectfully,  retired.  His  fellow-members  kept  on  with  their 
work  unmindful  of  the  venerable  intruder,  who  soon  left  the  room, 
saying  in  a  loud  voice,  "  Young  gentlemen,  I  have  left  the  matricula- 
tion book  ;  when  you  have  signed  it,  return  it  to  the  secretary  of  the 
Academy." 

There  was  a  flutter  of  excitement  among  the  artists  present  after  the 
intruder  had  retired.  President  Morse  called  the  member's  to  order, 
when  the  questions  were  discussed  :  "  Have  Ave  any  relation  to  the 
American  Academy  of  Fine  Arts  ?  Are  we  its  students  ?"  The 
association  replied  to  the  first  question,  "  None  whatever,"  and  to  the 
second  question,  "  We  are  not  students  of  the  Academy.  We  have 
been  set  adrift,  and  we  have  started  on  our  own  resources." 

The  die  was  now  cast.  Prompt  action  was  necessary,  and  it  was 
boldly  taken.  The  few  small  casts  which  the  association  had  borrowed 
from  the  Academy  were  sent  back  with  courteously  expressed  thanks. 
Yet  there  was  a  strong  desire  to  fraternize  with  the  old  institution,  and 
arrangements  to  that  end  were  made  by  conference  committees.  It 


178 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


was  agreed  that  the  Drawing  Association,  should  have  six  representa- 
tives in  the  board  of  directors  of  the  Academy.  To  make  four  of  the 
six  chosen  for  seats,  stockholders,  to  meet  the  requirement  of  the  laws 
of  the  Academy,  the  amount  required  was  paid  out  of  the  treasury  of 
the  association.  At  the  election  which  occurred,  a  fortnight  after- 
ward, only  three  of  the  six  chosen  were  elected. 

This  violation  of  a  solemn  compact,  this  taking  their  money  by  a  false 
pretext,  made  the  members  of  the  Drawing  Association  very  indignant. 
The  last  link  which  bound  them  to  the  Academy,  by  honor  or  courtesy, 
had  been  ruthlessly  broken.  The  elected  members  refused  to  serve. 
The  Drawing  Association,  feeling  itself  competent  to  form  an  inde- 
pendent academy,  resolved  to  do  so,  and  to  organize  a  new  institution, 
to  be  managed  by  artists  alone,  and  founded  on  such  liberal  principles 
as  should  tend  to  stimulate  and  foster  a  love  for  the  practice  of  the  arts 
of  design. 

For  this  purpose  the  New  York  Drawing  Association  met  on  the 
evening  of  the  14th  of  January,  1S20.  The  president,  Mr.  Morse, 
after  stating  the  chief  object  of  the  meeting,  proposed  a  plan  of  organi- 
zation as  follows  :  "Let  every  member,"  he  said,  "take  home  with 
him  a  list  of  all  the  members  of  our  association.  Let  each  one  select 
for  himself  from  the  whole  list,  fifteen  whom  he  would  call  profes- 
sional artists,  to  be  the  ticket  which  he  will  give  at  the  next  meeting. 
The  fifteen  thus  chosen  shall  immediately  select  not  less  than  ten  nor 
more  than  fifteen  professional  artists,  in  or  out  of  the  association,  who 
shall  with  the  previous  fifteen  constitute  a  body  to  be  called  The 
National  Academy  of  the  Arts  of  Design.  To  these  shall  be  delegated 
all  powers  to  manage  its  affairs." 

Mr.  Morse,  alluding  to  the  name  he  had  chosen  for  the  new  Acad- 
emy, said  :  "  Any  less  name  than  '  National  '  would  be  taking  one 
below  the  American  Academy,  and  therefore  is  not  desirable.  If  we 
are  simply  associated  artists,  their  name  would  swallow  us  up  ;  there- 
fore '  National  '  seems  a  proper  one.  As  to  the  '  Arts  of  Design  ' — 
painting,  sculpture,  architecture,  and  engraving — while  the  fine  arts 
include  poetry,  music,  landscape  gardening,  and  the  histrionic  arts,  our 
name  would  express  the  exact  character  of  our  institution,  and  that 
only."  * 

Morse's  plan  was  adopted  by  unanimous  consent,  and  on  the  evening 
of  January  18,  1826,  the  organization  of  the  National  Academy  of  the 

*  See  "The  National  Academy  of  the  Arts  of  Design  and  its  Surviving  Founders,"  in 
Harper' s  Magazine  for  May,  1883,  by  Benson  J.  Lossing. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830  1S40. 


179 


Arts  of  Design  was  completed  by  the  election  of  S.  F.  P>.  Morse  president, 
John  L.  Morton  secretary,  and  A.  1>.  Durand  treasurer,  until  a  constitu- 
tion should  be  adopted.  This  was  soon  done,  when  Thomas  S.  Cum- 
mings  was  elected  treasurer,  and  filled  that  important  office  for  fully 
forty  consecutive  years  afterward.  Of  the  thirty  artists  who  were  its 
founders,  only  three  now  (1883)  remain  upon  the  earth — namely.  A.  15. 
Durand,  John  Evers,  and  Thomas  S.  Cummings.  The  following  arc 
the  names  of  the  founders  :  Samuel  Finley  Breesc  Morse,  Henry 
Imnan,  Asher  Brown  Durand,  John  Frazee,  William  Wall,  Charles  C. 
Ingham,  William  Dunlap,  Peter  Maverick,  Ithiel  Town,  Thomas  S. 
Cummings,  Edward  C.  Potter,  Charles  C.  Wright,  Mosely  J.  Dan- 
forth,  Hugh  Reinagle,  Gerlando  Marsiglia,  Samuel  Waldo.  William 
Jewett,  John  W.  Paradise,  Frederick  S.  Agate,  Rembrandt  Peale, 
James  Coyle,  Nathaniel  Rogers,  J.  Parisen,  William  Main,  John  Evers, 
Martin  E.  Thompson,  Thomas  Cole,  John  Vanderlyn,  Alexander  An- 
derson, and  D.  W.  Wilson. 

The  new  institution  began  its  work  with  promptness  and  vigor.  An 
Antique  School  was  opened  in  a  room  procured  of  the  Philosophical 
Society,  and  in  May  (1826)  the  first  exhibition  of  the  Academy  was 
opened  in  the  second  story  of  a  house  on  the  corner  of  Broadway  and 
Reade  Street,  lighted  by  day  with  ordinary  side-windows,  and  at  night 
by  six  gas-burners.  *  The  pictures  were  one  hundred  and  seventy-six 
in  number,  all  by  living  artists,  and  never  exhibited  before.  The  pri- 
vate view  of  these  pictures  was  attended  by  Governor  Clinton  and  his 
suite,  the  ma}ror  and  common  council  of  the  city,  the  president  and 
faculty  of  Columbia  College,  and  distinguished  persons  in  Xew  York. 
It  was  a  fixed  rule  of  the  Academy  that  a  picture  should  be  exhibited 
but  once.  This  insured  novelty.  The  new  institution  was  very  popular 
from  the  beo-innino-. 

The  old  Academy  and  its  friends  chose  to  consider  its  young  sister  as 
a  rival,  and  unfair  criticisms  of  its  first  exhibition,  ungenerous  attacks 
upon  the  reputation  of  some  of  its  members,  sneers  concerning  the 
incapacity  of  artists  to  manage  business  affairs,  and  free  prophecies  of 
its  speedy  failure  and  demise  were  seen  in  the  daily  newspapers.  Tin; 

*  The  introduction  of  illuminating  gas  had  not  yet  become  general  in  the  city.  The 
first  attempt  to  introduce  it  in  the  United  States  was  made  at  Baltimore  between  1816 
and  1820.  It  was  a  failure.  In  1822  it  was  successfully  introduced  into  Boston,  and  iu 
1823  the  first  company  for  its  introduction  into  New  York  was  formed,  with  a  capital  of 
$1.(100,000.  It  was  incorporated  as  "  The  New  York  Gaslight  Company.'*  The  people 
were  slow  to  adopt  it,  and  the  company  was  not  in  full  operation  before  1827,  when  the 
population  of  the  city  was  about  100,000. 


180 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


chief  managers  were  spoken  of  as  "  beardless  boys. ' '  One  individual, 
who  had  been  denied  admission  to  its  membership  because  of  his  quar- 
relsome disposition,  kept  up  these  attacks  for  years,  but  when  age  and 
poverty  became  his  companions  he  acknowledged  his  error. 

Meanwhile  the  old  Academy  was  dying  for  want  of  nourishment. 
Attempts  had  been  made  by  it  to  prolong  its  existence  by  union  with 
its  vigorous  sister,  but  failed,  and  in  1S41  it  expired.  Its  statuary  was 
purchased  by  the  National  Academy  for  §400. 

The  National  Academy  of  the  Arts  of  Design  was  incorporated  by 
the  Legislature  in  1S28.  It  was  migratory  from  the  beginning.  Its 
second  exhibition  was  held  over  Tylce's  baths,  in  Chambers  Street. 
From  1820  for  ten  years  it  occupied  more  spacious  apartments  in  Clin- 
ton Hall.  Then  it  removed  to  the  building  of  the  Xew  York  Society 
Library,  corner  of  Leonard  Street  and  Broadway,  where  it  remained 
ten  years.  Up  to  that  time  it  had  struggled  under  a  burden  of  debt, 
but  by  the  skilful  management  of  Treasurer  Cummings  that  load  was 
entirely  removed,  and  its  schools  were  placed  in  a  flourishing  state.  A 
library  had  been  established,  and  its  yearly  exhibitions  were  more  and 
more  profitable. 

Having  purchased  property  on  Broadway,  opposite  Bond  Street,  the 
Academy  took  possession  of  this  new  and  more  spacious  home  in  1849. 
After  experiencing  many  vicissitudes,  it  sold  this  property  at  a  profit 
sufficient  to  purchase  the  ground  on  which  its  home  now  stands,  and 
leaving  a  surplus  of  slo.ooo  in  the  treasury.  For  this  auspicious  result 
the  institution  is  indebted  to  the  financial  ability  and  untiring  and 
unselfish  labors  of  Treasurer  Cummings.  And  had  the  association 
listened  to  and  heeded  his  counsels,  a  far  better  location  than  the  one 
now  occupied  might  have  been  secured  at  a  less  price,  at  the  junction 
of  Broadway  and  Fifth  Avenue. 

The  corner-stone  of  the  new  Academy  building  was  laid  in  the  fall 
of  1862.  The  edifice  was  completed  and  dedicated  to  the  Muse  of  Art 
in  1866,  when  Treasurer  Cummings.  seeing  the  institution  comfortably 
housed  and  fairly  prosperous,  resigned  his  long-held  office  and  retired 
to  a  pleasant  country-seat  in  Connecticut.* 

*  Thomas  S.  Curnniings  was  born  on  August  2G,  180J:.  He  was  the  only  son  of  his 
parents.  At  a  very  early  age  he  evinced  taste  and  talent  for  art,  and  this  was  fostered  by 
Augustus  Earle,  the  "  wandering  artist,"  who  found  a  home  for  a  while  under  the  roof  of 
the  elder  Cummings,  when  the  gifted  son  was  about  fourteen  years  of  age.  The  father, 
however,  had  determined  that  his  son  should  be  a  merchant,  and  he  placed  him  in  a 
counting-room.  There  he  remained  about  three  years,  dutiful,  industrious,  and  an  apt 
learner  of  some  of  the  best  lessons  of  commercial  life.    There  he  acquired,  by  experience 


FIRST  DECADE,  1S30-1S40. 


1S1 


The  architectural  style  of  the  Academy  building  is  called  "  Venetian 
Gothic,"  its  exterior  having  been  copied  after  a  famous  palace  in 
Venice.  It  is  built  of  gray  and  white  marble  and  bluestone.  The 
entire  cost  of  the  ground  and  buildings  was  about  $237,000. 

The  National  Academy  of  the  Arts  of  Design  is  a  private  association, 
managed  exclusively  by  artists  for  the  public  good.  Its  means  are 
devoted  entirely  to  the  cultivation  of  the  arts  of  design.  It  comprises 
professional  and  lay  members,  the  former  being  the  academicians, 
associate  and  honorary,  and  the  latter  honorary  members  and  fellows. 
Connoisseurs,  amateurs,  and  all  lovers  of  art  may  become  fellows  by 
the  payment  of  a  subscription  of  $100.    A  subscription  of  $500  consti- 

and  observation,  a  knowledge  of  the  art  of  business  management  which  was  of  essential 
service  to  him  in  all  his  after  life. 

But  the  genius  of  young  Cummings  could  not  be  confined  in  its  aspiration  to  the  realm 
of  trade.  His  longings  to  become  an  artist  were  irrepressible,  and  his  wise  father,  per- 
ceiving the  bent  of  his  desire,  gratified  the  youth  by  placing  him  under  the  instructions 
of  Henry  Inman,  the  eminent  artist  in  oil  and  water  colors.  The  making  of  small  por- 
traits in  water-colors  on  ivory  (called  miniatures)  specially  delighted  the  pupil,  and  in 
very  early  life  he  became  one  of  the  most  eminent  artists  in  this  line  then  living.  This 
lofty  position  he  held  until  Daguerre  summoned  the  sun  to  the  realm  of  human  art,  and 
instituted  him  an  eternal  rival  of  artists. 

Inman  and  Cummings  were  business  partners  for  six  years,  when  the  latter  abandoned 
the  use  of  oils  and  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  the  production  of  small  portraits  in 
water-colors.  In  this  style  of  art  he  produced  some  admirable  compositions,  which  were 
reproduced  by  some  of  the  best  engravers  of  that  day.  Among  these  compositions,  "  The 
Bracelet,"  "  The  Bride,"  and  "  The  Exchange  of  Queens,"  were  most  conspicuous  for 
the  accuracy  of  drawing  and  their  exquisite  coloring.  Equally  so  were  his  large  half- 
length  figures  in  Scotch  costume,  which  had  all  the  strength  of  oil-color  with  the  delicacy 
of  the  finest  water-color  pictures  ;  also  "  The  Ariadne"  and  "  The  Lily.'' 

Mr.  Cummings  was  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  efficient  coadjutors  of  Mr.  Morse  in 
the  establishment  of  the  National  Academy  of  the  Arts  of  Design.  He  was  a  general 
favorite  with  all  the  artists,  for  to  his  commanding  talent  in  the  profession  he  added  an 
urbanity  of  manner  and  a  generosity  of  spirit  that  won  all  hearts.  During  his  long  per- 
sonal connection  with  the  Academy  as  its  treasurer  — a  period  of  FORTY  consecutive 
years— he  was  one  of  the  most  judicioxis,  energetic,  efficient,  and  untiring  workers  in  its 
behalf,  as  its  annals  fully  attest.  He  was  especially  helpful  (thanks  to  his  early  business 
training)  when  dark  clouds  of  pecuniary  embarrassment  overshadowed  its  prospects  at 
times.  Through  his  skilful  management  for  several  years  of  property  belonging  to  the 
Academy,  on  Broadway  near  Bond  Street,  he  secured  for  it  at  its  final  sale  moi'e  than 
$00,000  above  its  debts,  with  which  it  provided  purchase  money  for  the  site  of  its  present 
home  and  building  thereon. 

The  schools  of  the  Academy  were  special  objects  of  the  care  of  Mr.  Cummings,  and  he 
conducted  theni  for  several  years  with  success,  on  a  plan  of  his  own.  He  also  con- 
ducted a  private  school  for  many  years.  Nor  were  his  tastes  or  his  labors  confined  to 
art  ;  scientific  and  literary  bodies,  as  well  as  the  benevolent  institutions  of  the  city,  felt 
his  influence.  Mr.  Cummings  succeeded  Professor  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse  as  professor 
of  the  arts  of  design  in  the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York,  and  held  that  position 


182 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


tutes  a  fellow  in  perpetuity,  with  power  to  bequeath  its  privileges  for 
all  time.  The  academicians  and  associates  are  limited  in  number  to 
one  hundred  each.  In  1883  its  academicians  numbered  ninety-two, 
and  its  associates  eighty -two. 

The  art  schools  of  the  Academy  were  free  until  1882.  They  consist 
of  an  Antique  and  Life  school.  In  the  latter  are  living  models,  draped 
and  nude.  The  schools  are  open  to  both  sexes.  They  were  the 
special  object  of  Treasurer  Cummings's  care  during  his  official  connec- 
tion with  the  Academy  for  fully  forty  years.  At  an  early  period  he 
introduced  a  plan  of  his  own,  and  conducted  the  instruction  with  great 
success.  * 

until  his  retirement  from  the  city.  In  lectures,  essays,  and  other  literary  productions  on 
the  subject  of  art,  he  contributed  largely.  In  18G5  he  completed  and  published  an 
octavo  volume  of  three  hundred  and  sixty-four  pages,  entitled  "  Historical  Annals  of  the 
National  Academy  of  Design."  This  will  forever  remain  a  trustworthy  history  of  the 
foundation  and  progress  of  that  institution  during  the  first  forty  years  of  its  existence. 

When  in  1838  Professor  Morse  was  ready  to  exhibit  his  electro-magnetic  telegraph  to 
the  public,  Mr.  Cummings,  as  will  be  observed  hereafter,  was  a  conspicuous  witness  of 
its  first  public  test,  at  the  University.  He  had  lately  been  commissioned  a  brigadier- 
general  by  Governor  Seward.  In  military  science  and  tactics  he  became  very  efficient. 
He  passed  rapidly  through  all  the  grades  of  office  in  the  Second  Regiment  N.  Y.  S.  Light 
Infantry,  from  ensign  to  colonel,  and  commanded  it  several  years  before  he  became  a 
brigadier.  He  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  soundest  military  jurists  in  the  country.  His 
decisions,  made  by  virtue  of  his  office,  though  sometimes  contested  by  the  most  eminent 
legal  talent  in  the  city,  were  never  reversed  by  higher  authority. 

More  than  thirty  years  ago  the  then  Governor-General  of  Canada,  visiting  General  Cnui- 
mings's  studio,  saw  a  beautiful  small  copy,  in  water-colors  by  that  artist,  of  the  portrait 
of  Mrs.  Washington,  by  Stuart,  and  said,  "  How  my  Queen  would  delight  in  such  a  picture 
of  that  lady!"  The  artist  generously  presented  it  to  her  Majesty,  and  indue  time  received 
a  letter  of  acknowledgment,  with  a  beautiful  gold  medal  bearing  her  effigy  on  one  side. 

General  and  Mrs.  Cummings,  who  were  married  in  1822,  are  yet  blessed  with  vigorous 
physical  and  mental  health,  the  love  and  reverence  of  their  children  and  their  children's 
children,  and  the  exquisite  delights  of  a  pure  and  serene  domestic  life  of  more  than 
sixty  years.  They  have  also  been  blessed  with  fourteen  children.  Of  their  five  sons, 
only  one  remains.  The  first  died  in  youth.  T.  Augustus  became  a  painter  of  consider- 
able eminence,  and  died  at  the  age  of  thirty-five.  Henry  R.  became  an  eminent  lawyer, 
and  died  leaving  a  family.  Charles  P.  was  a  partner  in  one  of  the  oldest  and  most 
respected  banking  houses  in  the  city,  and  died  leaving  a  family.  George  F.,  the  last 
survivor  of  the  sons,  is  a  broker,  and  enjoys  a  high  reputation  in  the  moneyed  circles  of 
Wall  Street. 

*  The  National  Academy  of  Design  has  had  seven  presidents  —  namely  :  S.  F.  B. 
Morse,  A.  B.  Durand,  Daniel  Huntington,  H.  P.  Gray,  W.  Page,  J.  Q.  A.  Ward,  and  W. 
Whittredge.  The  officers  in  1883  were  :  Daniel  Huntington,  president  ;  T.  W.  Wood, 
vice-president  ;  T.  Addison  Richards,  corresponding  secretary  ;  H.  W.  Robbins,  record- 
ing secretary  ;  Alfred  Jones,  treasurer.  These  are  ex-offioio  members  of  the  council. 
Other  members  of  the  council  are  :  J.  G.  Brown,  S.  J.  Guy,  E.  Wood  Perry,  J.  Q.  A. 
Ward,  Charles  L.  Brandt,  and  M.  F.  H.  De  Haas. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


183 


Almost  contemporaneously  with  the  founding  of  the  National  Acad- 
emy of  the  Arts  of  Design  was  the  organization  of  the  Sketch  Club, 
one  of  the  brightest  and  most  intellectual  of  the  social  institutions  in 
the  city,  composed  of  artists  and  literary  and  scientific  men.  The 
Bread  and  Cheese  or  Lunch  Club,  founded  by  James  Fenimore  Cooper 
and  others  in  1824,  had  expired  in  consequence  of  extravagance,  in  the 
spring  of  L827.  It  had  a  happy  existence.  The  inscription  on  a 
baby's  memorial  stone  might  have  been  adopted  as  its  own  : 

' '  Since  I  so  soon  am  done  for, 
I  wonder  what  I  was  begun  for." 

The  Sketch  Club  originated  in  this  wise  :  One  pleasant  evening  in 
May,  LS27,  Messrs.  Morse,  Durand,  Cummings,  and  Ingham  were 
engaged  in  social  chat  in  the  Antique  school-room  of  the  National 
Academy,  over  Tylee's  baths.  The  just  defunct  Lunch  Club  "was 
spoken  of,  when  Ingham  remarked,  "  Xow  is  an  opportunity  for  the 
artists  to  form  a  club. "  The  suggestion  met  with  a  hearty  approval, 
and  it  was  agreed  that  the  four  artists  present,  each  a  founder  of  the 
Academy,  should  consider  themselves  the  nucleus  of  such  a  club.  The 
following  week  a  meeting  of  the  principal  artists  and  literary  men  of 
the  city  was  held  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Ingham,  where  the  Sketch  Club 
was  organized.  Mr.  Ingham  was  chosen  president,  and  John  Inman 
secretary. 

At  that  first  meeting  the  rules  for  the  government  of  the  club  were 
discussed.  The  Lunch  Club,  at  which  bread  and  cheese  were  the 
ballots  used  when  voting  for  members  (hence  its  other  name),  had  met 
fortnightly  at  the  old  "Washington  Hotel,  corner  of  Broadway  and 
Chambers  Street,  where  they  were  entertained  at  the  expense  of  the 
host  for  the  evening.  This  arrangement  caused  a  rivalry  in  expense, 
which  led  to  the  breaking  up  of  the  club.  It  was  resolved  by  the 
Sketch  Club  to  shun  this  dangerous  rock,  and  it  was  agreed  that  the 
members  should  meet  at  each  other's  houses  in  rotation,  and  to  have 
the  expenses  as  light  as  possible.  It  was  decreed  that  the  entertain- 
ment on  such  occasions  should  be  confined  to  dried  fruit,  crackers,  milk, 
and  honey.  Candidates  for  membership  were  elected  by  unanimous 
vote  only. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  club  was  at  the  house  of  Thomas  Cole. 
Everything  was  pleasing,  even  the  figs,  milk,  and  honey.    An  intel 
lectual  and  merry  company  were  present.    The  leading  artists  of  the 
city  were  there,  and  a  generous  sprinkling  of  literary  men — W.  C. 


184 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Bryant,  K.  C.  Sands,  G.  C.  Yerplanck,  Fitz-Greene  Halleck,  Johr. 
Howard  Payne,  James  Ilillhouse,  D.  C.  Colden,  and  others. 

The  club  was  avowedly  organized  for  the  encouragement  of  good 
feeling  among  the  members  and  improvement  in  the  art  which  was  to 
be  practised  at  its  meetings,  namely,  off-hand  sketches  of  any  subject, 
either  with  the  pen  or  pencil.  Though  the  arts  of  design  were  never 
wholly  lost  sight  of,  they  Avere  made  subservient  to  the  social  element 
from  the  beginning. 

There  was  much  genuine  fun — rare  mingling  of  wit  and  wisdom — at 
the  gatberings  of  the  club.  Tbere  were  funny  drawings,  funny  essays, 
funny  sayings,  funny  songs,  and  rollicking  good-bumor.  These  were 
the  chief  features  of  the  entertainments,  as  the  minutes  of  the  club 
abundantly  reveal. 

The  "  figs,  milk,  and  honey1'  fare  was  soon  abandoned  for  more 
generous,  though  not  generally  extravagant  refreshments.  The  first 
outbreak  was  at  the  "  up-town"  residence  of  James  Ilillhouse,  a  mem- 
ber, on  Broadway,  between  Broome  and  Spring  streets.  The  hour 
devoted  to  drawing  had  passed,  and  the  poets  and  essayists  had  read 
their  impromptu  sketches,  when  the  drawing-room  doors  were  thrown 
open  and  an  elegant  supper  appeared.  There  was  a  general  protest 
against  this  violation  of  the  rules.  But  artists  and  poets  are  mortal, 
and  in  less  than  fifteen  minutes  all  were  seated  in  profound  harmony  at 
the  well-loaded  supper-table,  seemingly  unconscious  of  any  misdemeanor. 
After  that  the  records  show  that  the  members  did  not  support  existence 
on  the  food  of  John  in  the  wilderness.  On  March  25,  1S30,  is  this 
record  in  the  minutes  : 

"  An  atrocious  night,  but  good  singing  and  estimable  oysters.  Punch 
supernatural,  and  fun  abundant.'' 

Another  record  was  as  follows  :  "  Resumed  the  consideration  of  rail- 
roads, architecture,  play-actors  from  Garrick  and  Henderson  down  to 
Kemble  and  Jefferson,  miniature  painters,  and  divers  other  matters  of 
no  less  interest.  At  length  our  numbers  began  to  diminish  insensibly, 
and  by  a  strange  coincidence  the  club  grew  musical  as  it  grew  thin." 

' 4  Song  and  instrumental  music,"  says  Mr.  John  Durand,*  "often 
occur  on  the  pages  of  the  Sketch  Club,  while  there  are  similar  notices 
of  stories,  discussions,  mirth,  and  philosophy.  We  find  Mr.  Bryant 
propounding  '  a  sage  notion  that  the  perfection  of  bathing  is  to  jump 
head  foremost  into  a  snow-bank.'  Scientific  inspiration  shows  itself 
on  this  question  :  '  Does  heat  expand  the  days  in  summer  ? '  Mr. 

*  "  Prehistoric  Notes  of  the  Century  Club." 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


185 


Yerplanck  throws  antiquarian  light  on  '  the  precise  form  and  capacity 
of  antediluvian  butter-churns.'  " 

The  Sketch  Club  was  reorganized  in  1841,  under  the  title  of  The 
Artists'  Sketch  Club,  and  was  really  a  more  professional  organization 
than  the  old  one,  retaining,  however,  the  literary  and  social  elements 
in  its  membership.  It  existed  two  or  three  years,  when  its  members 
founded  the  now  famous  Century  Club  of  New  York. 

The  Bbead  and  Cheese  or  Lcnch  Club  has  been  alluded  to.  Its 
membership  embraced  men  who  were  conspicuous  in  the  world  of 
letters,  the  professions,  and  in  public  life.  The  club  met  bimonthly  at 
the  Washington  Hotel,  and  there  they  frequently  entertained  distin- 
guished guests.  To  this  club  the  late  Dr.  John  W.  Francis  belonged. 
"  Our  most  renowed  poet"  [among  the  members]  wrote  Dr.  Francis, 
"  was  Fitz-Greene  Halleck  :  our  greatest  naturalist  was  Dr.  James  E. 
De  Kay  ;  *  William  and  John  Duer  were  among  the  representatives 
of  the  bar  ;  Ilenwick  of  philosophy  ;  letters  found  an  associate  in 
Yerplanck  and  Charles  King  ;  merchants  in  Charles  A.  Davis  and 
Philip  Hone  ;  and  politicians  who  had  long  before  discharged  their 
public  trusts  were  here  and  there  chronicled  in  fellowship.  The  meet- 
ings (or  lunches)  of  the  club  were  often  swelled  to  quite  formidable 
assemblies,  by  members  of  Congress  f  and  other  distinguished  public 
men. 

Dr.  Francis  relates  the  following  circumstance  in  connection  with  the 
Bread  and  Cheese  Club.  .V  theatrical  benefit  had  been  announced  at 
the  Park  Theatre  ;  the  play  was  Hamlet.  A  subordinate  of  the 
theatre  came  in  haste  to  Dr.  Francis's  office  for  a  skull,  and  he  was 
compelled  to  lend  that  of  his  old  friend  George  Frederick  Cooke,  the 
actor.  "  Alas,  poor  Yorick  !"  It  was  returned  in  the  morning.  The 
ensuing  evening  there  was  a  meeting  of  the  Bread  and  Cheese  Club. 
The  circumstance  became  known  to  the  members,  and  a  general  desire 
was  expressed  to  investigate  phrenologically  the  skull  of  the  eminent 
actor.  It  was  taken  to  the  club  by  Dr.  Francis.  Daniel  AYebster, 
Henry  Wheaton,  the  eminent  writer  on  the  '*  Law  of  Nations,'''  and 
other  distinguished  persons  "were  present,  and  joined  in  the  investiga- 
tion in  accordance   with   the  teachings  of    craniological  science. 

*  A  pleasant  anecdote  is  related  of  Halleck  and  De  Kay.  They  were  both  smitten  by 
the  charms  of  a  young  lady,  and  both  paid  court  to  her.  Their  rivalry  was  warm,  but 
good-natured.  Halleck,  doubtful  and  impulsive,  said  to  her  one  day,  Tell  me,  please, 
would  you  rather  have  Fitz  or  go  to  De  Kay?'"  "Go  to  De  Kay,"  was  the  reply.  Fitz 
remained  a  bachelor. 

t  "  Old  New  York,"  by  John  W.  Francis,  M.D.,  p.  291. 


180 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


"  Cooper,"  says  Francis,  "  felt  as  a  coadjutor  of  Albums,  and  Cooke 
enacted  a  great  part  that  night." 

Club  life  had  not  then  become  so  conspicuous  a  social  feature  in  New 
York  City  as  it  was  a  few  years  later,  and  is  now.  There  had  been 
now  and  then  a  club  in  the  city  since  colonial  times.  About  1 750  there 
was  a  convivial  club  of  which  John  Bard,  Cadwallader  D.  Colder., 
Leonard  Cutting,  and  others  were  members,  and  they  were  occasional  I  v 
honored  by  the  presence  of  men  like  Dr.  Franklin  and  Chief-Justice 
Chew,  of  Philadelphia,  and  other  distinguished  persons  from  abroad. 

In  177<i  the  Social  Club  was  created  in  New  York,  composed  of 
leading  Tories,  such  as  President  Miles  Cooper,  of  King's  College, 
Lieutenant-Governor  Colden,  Dr.  Glossy,  and  after  possession  of  the 
city  was  gained  by  the  British,  it  was  swelled  by  army  officers,  among 
them  Sir  Henry  Clinton  and  General  Robertson. 

After  the  peace  no  other  social  club  appeared  until  the  Tammany 
Society  or  Columbian  Order  arose,  in  L789.  The  Belvidere  Club  was 
organized  on  the  arrival  of  "  Citizen"  Genet,  the  Girondist  of  the 
French  Revolution.  It  was  vehement  in  the  promotion  of  democratic 
doctrines.  One  of  its  members,  a  bookseller  named  Feed,  had  the 
head  of  Thomas  Paine  painted  on  his  sign.  At  about  the  same  time 
The  Friendly  Club  sprang  up,  under  the  leadership  of  General  Laight. 

A  literary  club  called  the  Drones,  a  society  for  the  cultivation  and  dif- 
fusion of  letters,  appeared  about  17!>2.  Every  member  was  to  be  recog- 
nized by  proofs  of  authorship  before  admission.  Among  the  members 
the  famous  Dr.  Mitchill  Avas  conspicuous.  The  last  survivor  of  tin; 
Drones  was  the  late  Chancellor  Samuel  Jones.  Law,  medicine,  and 
divinity  had  each  their  representatives  among  the  Drones.  Samuel  Mil- 
ler, Josiah  Ogden  Hoffman,  John  Blair  Lewis,  Charles  Brockden 
Blown,  and  John  Wells  were  members  of  the  club.  Through  the 
medium  of  the  club  Dr.  Mitchill  addressed  the  ladies  on  the  value  of 
whitewashing  as  among  the  most  important  of  the  hygienic  arts  in 
housekeeping,  and  showing  that  the  alkalies  are  powerful  conservators 
of  health. 

Of  club  life  in  New  York  more  will  be  said  hereafter,  but  before 
leaving  the  topic  let  us  notice  three  social-benevolent  institutions 
characterized  by  the  features  of  separate  nationalities — namely,  the 
St.  George's  Society,  the  St.  Andrew's  Society,  and  the  Friendly  Sons 
of  St.  Patrick,  or  St.  Patrick's  Society.  These  still  flourishing  associa- 
tions were  in  existence  before  1830. 

The  St.  George's  Society  was  established  in  the  city  of  New  York 
in  the  year  1786.    There  had  already  existed  a  similar  society  with 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


187 


similar  aims  before  the  old  war  for  independence.  That  war  had 
caused  the  dismemberment  of  the  British  Empire.  Native  Englishmen 
who  had  determined  to  make  the  city  of  New  York  their  permanent 
home  could  not  repress  their  affectionate  remembrance  of  their  native 
land  and  people,  and  their  hearts  yearned  to  give  aid  and  assistance  to 
those  in  distress  who  should  come  to  our  shores.  Out  of  this  desire 
arose  the  St.  George's  Society,  three  years  after  the  peace  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain. 

The  most  prominent  man  in  the  organization  of  the  St.  George's 
Society  was  John  Wilkes,  "  a  true-born  Englishman,  with  a  heart  full 
of  kindness,  and  abounding  in  all  the  social  affections,  whose  worth, 
justly  appreciated  as  it  was  by  numerous  and  respectable  connections, 
soon  created  subscribers  to  the  constitution. "  Englishmen  of  charac- 
ter coming  to  New  York  almost  without  exception  became  members, 
cither  permanent  or  honorary,  according  as  their  residence  was  either 
lixed  or  transient.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Moore,  afterward  bishop  of  the 
Diocese  of  New  York,  was  also  an  early,  efficient  and  cheerful  mem- 
ber, personally  assisting  in  all  the  work  of  the  Charitable  Committee. 

The  first  president  of  the  society  was  Gpldsbrow  Banyer,  an  English- 
man by  birth,  and  an  active  public  man.  The  seal  it  adopted  bore  the 
expressive  motto,  "  Let  mercy  be  our  boast,  and  shame  our  only  fear," 
and  is  indicative  of  its  long  career  of  usefulness. 

During  the  prevalence  of  the  yellow  fever  in  New  York  in  1822,  the 
records  of  the  society  were  hastily  removed  to  a  place  above  Canal 
Street.  Their  "  Book  of  Minutes"  was  lost,  and  has  never  been  recov- 
ered, so  that  the  detailed  history  from  Mr.  Banyer's  election  to  the 
presidency  until  1S24  is  known  only  in  vague  recollection.  It  is  known 
that  until  that  time  Mr.  Banyer  had  six  successors,  and  that  the  good 
work  of  the  society  went  steadily  on. 

The  present  charter  of  the  society  was  granted  by  the  Legislature  of 
New  York  in  March,  1838.  Its  constitution  declares  the  object  of  the 
society  to  be  to  "  afford  relief  and  advice  to  indigent  natives  of  Eng- 
land and  the  British  colonies,  or  to  their  wives,  widows,  or  children  in 
the  cities  of  New  York  and  Brooklyn,  and  to  promote  social  intercourse 
among  its  members.  The  property  and  income  of  the  society  can  only 
be  expended  in  charity.  The  persons  eligible  to  membership  are:  a 
native  of  England,  a  son  of  a  native,  a  grandson  of  a  native,  British 
officers  and  their  sons  wherever  born,  natives  of  any  of  the  colonies, 
territories,  or  dependencies  of  Great  Britain. 

The  society  had,  in  1882,  nearly  one  hundred  pensioners,  who  were 
paid  monthly.    Aid  had  been  afforded  to  1846  transients  ;  3662  meal 


188  HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 

and  1223  lodging  tickets  had  been  distributed  ;  15  situations  had  been 
procured  ;  18  had  been  aided  in  getting  to  this  country,  and  174  to 
return  to  England.* 

Tin-;  St.  Andrew's  Society  of  the  State  of  New  York  was  instituted 
in  the  city  of  New  York  in  November,  175G,  and  is  one  of  the  oldest 
existing  benevolent  societies  in  the  State  or  in  the  Republic.  Several 
gentlemen,  natives  of  Scotland  and  of  Scottish  descent,  met  and  agreed 
to  form  themselves  into  a  society  for  charitable  purposes.  They  adopted 
a  constitution,  and  elected  Philip  Livingston  president,  Dr.  Adam 
Thompson  vice-president,  Malcolm  Campbell  treasurer,  Richard  Morris 
secretary,  and  David  Johnston,  Alexander  Colden,  Dr.  James  Murray, 
and  Dr.  "William  Farquhar,  assistants. 

The  objects  of  the  society  were  the  promotion  of  social  and  friendly 
intercourse  among  the  natives  of  Scotland  in  America,  their  connec- 
tions and  descendants,  the  relief  of  the  worthy  distressed,  and  finding 
employment  for  the  industrious  poor.  In  this  work  the  society  con- 
tinued until  the  war  for  independence  broke  out.  Then  the  public 
meetings  of  the  society  were  suspended,  and  its  work  was  done  more 
by  independent  individual  action  than  by  the  organized  society.  Its 
records  from  177.")  to  17S4  are  lost. 

When  peace  came  the  work  of  the  society  was  revived  in  all  its 
wonted  vigor.  Its  former  constitution  was  revised  and  amended,  and 
from  that  time  until  now  it  has  never  nagged  in  the  faithful  perform- 
ance of  its  prescribed  duties.  The  duties  of  the  managers  became  more 
and  more  arduous  as  the  city  rapidly  increased  in  population,  for  the 
objects  of  their  care  were  scattered  over  a  large  and  continually  widen- 
ing space.  To  relieve  them  an  almoner  was  appointed  in  1841,  and 
that  measure  has  proved  very  beneficial.  The  almoner  visits  in  person 
every  applicant,  and  reports  to  the  managers.  I>y  that  means  all 
frauds  are  prevented  and  money  most  judiciously  distributed. 

The  administration  of  the  charities  of  the  St.  Andrew's  Society  is 
similar  to  that  of  the  St.  George's  Society.  During  the  year  ending 
November,  1882,  3138  applications  were  attended  to  and  favors  be- 
stowed, and  in  i»2  cases  aid  had  been  afforded  to  persons  to  reach  some 
other  part  of  the  country.  The  number  of  the  members  of  the  society, 
honorary,  life,  and  resident,  is  357.  The  anniversary  dinner  has 
always  been  regularly  held,  excepting  during  the  Civil  War.  This 

*  The  officers  of  St.  George's  Society  for  1882  were  :  F.  W.  J.  Hurst,  president  ; 
Edward  Hill  and  Richard  J.  Cortis,  vice-presidents  ;  John  G.  Dale,  treasurer,  and  Alex- 
ander E.  Tucker  and  F.  G.  Richardson,  secretaries. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


'  SO 


dinner  is  partaken  of  on  St.  Andrew's  day.  when  each  member  appears 
with  a  St.  Andrew's  cross  or  a  thistle  displayed  on  the  left  breast. 
None  but  Scotsmen  and  the  sons  and  grandsons  of  a  native  of  Scotland, 
or  the  sons  of  a  resident  member,  may  be  admitted  as  such.* 

The  Society  of  the  Fbiendly  Sons  of  St.  Patrick  is  one  of  the  old 
social-benevolent  institutions  of  the  city.  It  appears  to  be  the  suc- 
cessor of  the  Friendly  Brothers  of  St.  Patrick,  which  existed  previous 
to  the  old  war  for  independence.  Like  other  similar  organizations,  its 
work  and  its  records  appear  to  have  suffered  from  the  confusion  of  the 
war  of  the  Revolution.  It  reappeared  after  that  event,  and  was 
reorganized  in  17*4. 

According  to  Hardie,  there  was  a  society  in  New  York  "composed 
chiefly  of  natives  of  Ireland,"  formed  in  1S15,  called  the  Shamrock 
Friendly  Association.  Its  object  was  to  befriend  Irish  emigrants  on 
their  arrival  in  the  United  States  by  giving  them  useful  information 
and  procuring  them  employment.  Their  views  and  benevolent  offices 
were  "  not  confined  to  country,  politics,  or  religion,"  said  Hardie,  who 
wrote  in  1826  ;  "  it  is  enough  that  the  applicant  is  a  stranger  to  insure 
him  protection. " 

This  was  probably  the  old  society  of  Irishmen  bearing  a  new  name, 
and  which  was  finally  incorporated  by  act  of  the  Legislature  of  New 
York,  passed  February  13,  1827,  with  its  present  title  (1784)  of  The 
Society  of  the  Friendly  Sons  of  St.  Patrick.  This  title  appears  to  be 
the  one  it  assumed  at  its  reorganization  in  17S4.  It  proposed  to  cele- 
brate its  centennial  anniversary  on  the  17th  of  March,  1884. 

In  compliance  with  one  of  its  by-laws,  adopted  in  1832,  the  members 
of  the  society  meet  in  social  intercourse  at  dinner  on  St.  Patrick's  day, 
each  year,  "the  anniversary  of  Ireland's  tutelar  saint,"  as  the  law 
expresses  it.  These  dinners  have  always  afforded  the  most  pleasant, 
witty,  and  agreeable  social  gatherings  of  the  kind  in  the  city.  Perfect 
harmony  prevails  at  these  dinners,  as  well  as  at  the  meetings  of  the 
society.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  association  is  composed  of 
different  religious  denominations  and  of  different  political  views.  At 
the  meetings  of  every  kind  the  subjects  of  religion  and  politics  are 
never  discussed,  only  the  charitable  and  social  objects  of  the  society. 
To  this  feature  is  due  the  long  and  healthful  life  of  the  association. 

*  The  officers  of  the  St.  Andrew's  Society  for  1883  are  :  Walter  Watson,  president  : 
Bryce  Gray  and  James  Fraser,  vice-presidents  ;  J.  Kennedy  Tod,  treasurer  ;  Walter  C. 
Brand,  secretary,  and  William  Gordon,  assistant  secretary  ;  John  Paton,  William  A. 
Baton,  John  Mackay,  Thomas  Henderson,  Jr..  Robert  H.  Robertson,  and  William  Lyall, 
managers. 


190 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Out  of  the  Society  of  the  Friendly  Sons  of  St.  Patrick  grew  the 
present  Irish  Emigrant  Society  and  the  Emigrant  Industrial  Savings 
Hank,  now  one  of  the  largest  savings  institutions  in  the  city.  Prior  to 
the  organization  of  these  institutions  the  St.  Patrick's  Society,  COm- 
monly  so  called,  was  very  active  in  extending  charitable  aid  to  indigent 
persons  of  the  Irish  race  in  the  city,  especially  in  aiding  emigrants 
upon  their  arrival  in  this  country  in  rinding  employment.  That  duty 
is  now  discharged  by  the  commissioners  of  emigration,  of  which  the 
president  of  the  Irish  Emigrant  Society  is  one.* 

Tin-;  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society  ok  New  York,  founded  in 
1814,  was  composed  of  scientific  and  literary  gentlemen.  Among  its 
founders  were  De  Witt  Clinton,  Dr.  Ilosack,  Dr.  Mitchill,  Dr. 
Macneven,  Dr.  Francis,  Dr.  Griscom,  and  others.  Francis  had  just 
returned  from  Europe,  and  brought  with  him  much  knowledge  of 
scientific  facts  and  current  history  of  philosophy  abroad,  derived  from 
acute  observation.  Clinton  was  chosen  the  first  president  of  the 
society.  It  gathered  a  valuable  library,  and  flourished  for  many  years 
among  the  useful  institutions  of  New  York  City. 

Tin;  Lyceum  of  Natural  History  was  also  a  flourishing  institution  at 
the  time  we  are  considering.  In  its  origin  it  was  a  private  association  of 
voung  gentlemen  who  held  meetings  occasionally  in  one  of  the  lecture 
rooms  of  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons.  It  was  incorporated 
by  an  act  of  the  Legislature  passed  April  20,  lsis,  and  was  furnished 
by  the  city  authorities  with  a  suite  of  apartments  in  the  New  York 
Institution.  It  soon  formed  quite  an  extensive  cabinet,  and  before  the 
year  1830  no  collection  in  the  country  was  richer  in  the  departments  of 
berpetology  and  ichthyology.  It  had  gathered  an  extensive  collection 
of  fossils  from  Europe,  nearly  a  whole  skeleton  of  a  mastodon,  and 
large  portions  of  the  only  North  American  sj>ecimen  of  the  mega- 
therium which  had  hitherto  been  discovered.  It  had  recently  estab- 
lished a  new  department  of  comparative  anatomy,  and  was  rich  in 
cranial  illustrations  of  ethnology.  The  presidents  of  the  institution 
down  to  1S27  were  Dr.  Samuel  L.  Mitchill  and  Dr.  John  Torrev. 

The  Lyceum  of  Natural  History  is  now  situated  on  Madison  Avenue, 
and  besides  a  good  library  has  a  collection  of  more  than  three  thousand 
specimens  of  plants. 

The  New  York  Atiikx.ki  m,  alluded  to  in  connection  with  the  New 

*  The  officers  of  the  Society  of  the  Friendly  Sons  of  St.  Patrick  for  1882-83  were  : 
Charles  P.  Daly,  president  ;  John  Savage,  first  vice-president  ;  Robert  Sewell,  second 
vice-president  ;  William  Whiteside,  treasurer  :  John  McK.  McCarthy,  secretary  ;  Eugene 
Kelly,  almoner  ;  R.  A.  Caldwell,  M.D.,  physician. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840.  191 

York  Historical  Society,  was  founded  on  the  first  of  June,  1824.  Until 
that  time  New  York  was  probably  the  only  city  of  equal  size  in  the 
world  in  which  an  association  for  the  promotion  of  the  highest  cultiva- 
tion in  science,  art,  and  literature  combined  might  not  be  found.  For 
the  noble  purpose  of  creating  such  an  institution,  and  with  the  laudable 
ambition  to  make  it  the  leading  society  of  the  kind,  distinguished  mem- 
bers of  the  professions,  of  the  arts,  and  of  literature  in  the  city  associ- 
ated, under  the  title  of  The  New  York  Athenaeum. 

The  association  consisted  of  resident  and  honorary  members,  the 
former  divided  into  four  classes,  namely — associates,  patrons,  govern- 
ors, and  subscribers.  From  these  classes  the  funds  for  carrying  on 
the  society  were  derived.  It  was  decreed  that  $2oo  constituted  a 
patron,  §100  a  governor,  $5  an  associate,  S2o  and  $10  a  subscriber,  the 
latter  class  being  divided  into  two  kinds.  The  $20  contributors  were 
entitled  to  tickets  of  admission  to  the  lectures,  library,  and  reading- 
room  for  himself  and  family  ;  the  81b  subscribers  were  entitled  to  these 
privileges  for  himself  only.  The  patrons  and  governors  were  each 
entitled  to  three  transferable  tickets  of  admission  to  the  lectures,  the 
library,  and  the  reading-room,  and  other  tickets  for  the  members  of 
their  families.  The  patrons  constituted  a  board,  and  had  absolute  con- 
trol of  the  funds  of  the  association,  no  part  of  which  could  be  appropri- 
ated without  their  sanction. 

The  library  was  to  comprise,  when  complete,  all  the  standard 
elementary  works  of  science  and  literature  of  every  civilized  nation, 
ancient  and  modern.  Monthly  lectures  were  to  be  given,  open  to  both 
sexes.  The  Athenaeum  was  fully  equipped  for  operations  in  1820,  and 
arranged  the  following  scheme  of  lectures  for  that  year  :  Roman  Lit- 
erature, Professor  Charles  Anthon  ;  Phrenology,  Dr.  Charles  King  ; 
Taste  and  Beauty,  Professor  John  McVickar  ;  The  Revival  of  Classical 
Literature,  Richard  Ray  ;  Chemistry,  Professor  James  Renwick  ; 
Commerce,  John  Hone,  Jr.  ;  Painting,  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse  ;  Political 
Economy,  William  Beach  Lawrence  ;  Poetry,  William  Cullen  Bryant  : 
Oriental  Literature,  the  Rev.  John  Frederick  Schroeder  ;  Anniversary 
Discourse,  the  Rev.  James  M.  Mathews,  D.D. 

After  engaging  for  more  than  twenty  years  in  its  useful  labors,  and 
accomplishing  a  vast  amount  of  social  benefit  by  infusing  the  hard 
materialism  of  purely  commercial  life  with  the  spirituality  and  ameni- 
ties of  intellectual  culture  and  taste,  the  institution  was  merged  into 
the  New  York  Society  Library  in  1838,  which  became  the  recipient  of 
its  collection  of  valuable  books. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


AMONG  the  more  important  institutions  in  our  country  founded 
for  the  diffusion  of  religious  knowledge  and  the  principles  of 
Christianity,  and  the  spiritual  enlightenment  of  mankind,  which  may 
claim  the  city  of  New  York  as  the  place  of  their  nativity  previous  to 
the  year  1830,  are  the  American  Bible  Society,  the  Missionary  Society 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  the  New  York  Bible  Society. 

The  first  Bible  society  in  the  United  States  was  instituted  at  Phila- 
delphia in  lsns.  Others  were  instituted  the  next  year  in  Connecticut, 
Massachusetts,  Xew  York,  and  New  Jersey.  These  local  societies 
rapidly  increased  and  were  necessarily  feeble,  working  under  serious 
disadvantages.  At  the  head  of  the  New  Jersey  Bible  Society  was  the 
earnest  patriot  and  Christian,  Elias  Boudinot,  of  Burlington,  and  in 
1815  that  society  proposed  a  plan  for  a  National  Bible  Society,  and 
notice  was  given  of  a  convention  to  be  held  in  the  city  of  New  York  on 
the  8th  of  May,  181<>,  to  consider  the  plan. 

The  convention  assembled  at  the  appointed  time  in  the  consistory 
room  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  in  Garden  Street,  New  York. 
It  was  composed  of  delegates  from  thirty-five  local  Bible  societies,  be- 
sides four  representatives  from  the  Society  of  Friends  or  Quakers,  mak- 
ing sixty  in  all.  The  convention  was  organized  by  the  appointment  of 
Joshua  M.  Wallace,  a  delegate  from  the  New  Jersey  Bible  Society,  as 
president,  and  the  Rev.  J.  B.  Romeyn,  D.D.,  and  the  Rev.  Lyman 
Beecher,  D.D.,  secretaries.  After  full  and  free  discussion  the  com- 
mittee. 

"MesoVoed,  That  it  is  expedient  to  establish,  without  delay,  a  gen- 
eral Bible  institution  for  the  circulation  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  without 
note  or  comment." 

A  constitution  was  then  adopted,  and  an  address  to  the  people  of  the 
United  States  was  ordered  to  be  printed  and  sent  out  into  all  parts  of 
the  Republic  ;  executive  officers  were  chosen,  an  energetic  board  of 
managers  were  appointed,  and  the  Amkkkan  Bible  Society  began  its 
useful  and  wonderful  career  of  benevolence.* 


*  The  following  gentlemen,  sixty  in  number,  were  members  of  the  convention  which 
formed  the  American  Bible  Society,  to  wit  :  Rev.  John  Bassett.  D.D.,  Bush  wick,  N.  Y.  ; 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830  1840. 


193 


The  constitution  of  the  society  was  drawn  by  an  able  committee, 
composed  of  the  Rev.  Drs.  Nott,  Mason,  Beecher,  Rice,  Morse,  and 
Blythe,  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Wilmur  and  Jones,  the  Hon.  Messrs.  Samuel 
Bayard  and  William  Jay,  and  Mr.  Charles  Wright.  The  powerful 
address  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  was  written  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
John  Mason,  and  was  sent  out,  with  the  constitution,  to  every  part  of 
the  country.  The  Hon.  Elias  Boudinot  was  elected  the  first  president 
of  the  society.  Its  affairs  are  managed  by  executive  officers  and  a 
board  of  managers,  the  latter  consisting  of  thirty-six  laymen,  one 
fourth  of  whom  go  out  of  office  each  year,  but  are  re-eligible.  Since 
its  organization  it  has  had  nine  presidents  and  one  hundred  and 
fourteen  vice-presidents.  The  presidents  were  elected  in  the  following 
order  of  time  :  Elias  Boudinot,  lSKi  ;  John  Jay,  1S21  ;  Richard 
Varick,  1828  ;  John  Cotton  Smith,  1S31  ;  Theodore  Frelinghuysen, 
ls4i!  ;  Luther  Bradish,  18(12  ;  James  Lenox,  1864  ;  William  II.  Allen, 
LL.D.,  1872,  and  S.  Wells  Williams,  LL.D.,  1881. 

At  the  outset  the  society  encountered  the  strong  opposition  of  Bishop 
John  Henry  Ilobart,  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  who  was  the 

Samuel  Bayard,  Princeton,  N.  J.  ;  Rev.  Lyman  Beecher,  secretary  of  the  convention, 
Litchfield,  Conn.  ;  Thomas  J.  Biggs,  Nassau  Hall,  Princeton,  N.  J.  ;  Rev.  Samuel  Blatch- 
ford,  D.D.,  Lansingburg,  N.  Y.  ;  Rev.  James  Blythe,  D.D.,  Lexington,  Ky.  ;  Rev.  David 
S.  Bogart,  Long  Island,  N.  Y.  ;  Rev.  John  M.  Bradford,  D.D.,  Albany,  N.  Y.  ;  William 
Burd,  Lynchburg,  Ya.  ;  John  E.  Caldwell,  New  York  ;  Levi  Callender,  Catskill,  N.  Y.  ; 
Rev.  John  Chester,  Albany,  N.  Y.  ;  Matthew  St.  Clair  Clarke,  Chambersburg,  Penn.  ; 
Rev.  Eli  F.  Cooley,  Cooperstown,  N.  Y.  ;  James  Fenimore  Cooper,  Cooperstown,  N.  Y.  ; 
Orriu  Day,  Catskill,  N.  Y.  ;  Thomas  Eddy,  New  York  ;  Henry  Ford,  Cayuga  County, 
N.  Y.  ;  Rev.  Robert  Forrest,  Delaware  County,  N.  Y.  ;  John  Griscom,  New  York  ;  Rev. 
James  Hall,  D.D.,  Statcsville,  N.  C.  ;  Rev.  J.  P.  K.  Henshaw,  Baltimore,  Md.  ;  Joseph  C. 
Hornblower,  Newark,  N.  J.  ;  Rev.  Heman  Humphrey,  Fairfield,  Conn.  ;  William  Jay, 
Bedford,  N.  Y.  ;  Rev.  David  Jones,  Newark,  N.  J.  ;  Rev.  Isaac  Lewis,  D.D.,  Greenwich, 
Conn.  ;  General  John  Linklacn,  Cazenovia,  N.  Y.  ;  Rev.  John  McDowell,  Elizabethtown, 
N.  J.  ;  Rev.  John  M.  Mason,  D.D.,  New  York  ;  Rev.  Philip  Milledoler,  D.D.,  New  York  ; 
Rev.  Jedediah  Morse,  D.D.,  Charlestown,  Mass.  ;  Valentine  Mott,  M.D.,  New  York  ; 
"William  C.  Mulligan,  New  York  ;  John  Murray,  Jr.,  New  York  ;  Rev.  John  Neil,  D.D.. 
Albany,  N.  Y.  ;  Rev.  Eliphalet  Nott,  D.D.,  Schenectady,  N.  Y.  ;  Rev.  Andrew  Oliver, 
Springfield,  N.  Y.  ;  Isaac  W.  Piatt,  Nassau  Hall,  Princeton,  N.  J.  ;  Rev.  Alexander 
Proudfit,  D.D.,  Salem,  N.  Y.  ;  Rev.  John  H.  Rice,  Richmond,  Ya.  ;  Rev.  James  Rich- 
ards, D.D.,  Newark,  N.  J.  ;  Rev.  John  B.  Romeyn,  D.D.,  secretary  of  the  convention, 
New  York  :  Joshua  Sands,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  ;  Rev.  Gilbert  H.  Sayres,  Jamaica,  N.  Y.  ; 
Robert  Sedgwick,  New  York  ;  Ichabod  Skinner,  Connecticut  ;  Rev.  Samuel  Spring,  D.D., 
Newburyport,  Mass.  ;  Rev.  Gardiner  Spring,  New  York  ;  General  Joseph  G.  Swift, 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  ;  Rev.  N.  W.  Taylor,  New^  Haven,  Conn.  ;  Adrian  Van  Sinderen,  New- 
town, N.  Y.  ;  Guysbert  B.  Vroora,  New  York  ;  Joshua  M.  Wallace,  president  of  the  con- 
vention, Burlington,  N.  J.  ;  Henry  W.  Warner,  New  York  ;  Rev.  John  Williams,  New 
York  ;  William  Williams,  Vernon.  N.  Y.  ;  Rev.  Simon  Wilmur,  Swedesboro',  N.  J.  ;  Rev. 
George  S.  Woodhull,  Cranberry,  N.  J.  ;  Charles  Wright,  Flushing,  N.  Y. 


194 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


recognized  head  of  the  High  Church  party.  In  a  pastoral  letter,  dated 
April  3,  1815,  on  Bible  and  Prayer-book  societies,  the  bishop  warned 
Episcopalians  against  deserting  the  separate  management  of  their 
respective  concerns,  to  unite  with  those  who  did  not  value  the  apostolic 
and  primitive  characteristics  of  their  church. 

The  bishop  was  answered  by  William  Jay,  of  Bedford,  also  an 
earnest  Episcopalian,  who  took  the  ground  that  it  was  the  interest 
and  the  duty  of  churchmen  to  unite  with  others  in  the  distribution  of 
the  Bible.  Mr.  Jay  was  one  of  the  most  active  members  of  the 
American  Bible  Society.  The  controversy  thus  opened  was  vigorously 
renewed  the  next  year  by  the  same  gentlemen. 

The  society  is  strictly  unsectarian,  and  issues  the  Scriptures  in  all 
languages,  without  note  or  comment.  For  twenty-five  veal's  after  its 
organization  it  prosecuted  its  work  without  being  incorporated,  with 
great  inconvenience,  and  often  at  the  imminent  peril  of  its  highest 
interests.  On  March  25,  1841,  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New 
York  granted  it  a  charter,  and  by  special  acts  afterward  gave  it  permis- 
sion to  buy,  hold,  and  convey  real  estate.  It  is  legally  qualified  to 
guard  every  trust  committed  to  it.  It  has  on  its  register  about  two 
thousand  auxiliary  societies. 

During  the  earlier  years  of  its  life  the  American  Bible  Societv  \va.; 
migratory,  first  occupying  a  room  in  the  City  Hospital  ;  then  in  the 
City  Hall  ;  then  a  place  in  the  rooms  of  the  Xew  York  Historical 
Society  ;  then  in  the  office  of  its  agent,  corner  of  Nassau  and  Cedar 
streets  ;  then  a  room  seven  by  nine  feet  square,  in  the  printing-office  in 
Cliff  Street  ;  then  in  a  room  twenty  feet  square,  in  the  rear  of  the 
Merchants''  Exchange  ;  and  after  other  removals  it  settled  down  in  a 
building  of  its  own  in  Nassau,  near  Beekrnan  Street.  The  operations 
of  the  society  increased  rapidly.  More  room  was  necessary.  Land 
was  purchased  at  Eighth  Street,  between  Third  and  Fourth  avenues, 
and  there  the  corner-stone  of  the  present  Bible  House  was  laid,  on  June 
29,  1852.  The  edifice,  built  of  brick,  six  stories  in  height,  and  occupy- 
ing a  whole  square,  was  completed  and  occupied  the  following  year. 
The  funds  for  the  erection  of  this  imposing  structure  were  free-will 
offerings  of  friends  of  the  institution.  Not  a  dollar  raised  for  publica- 
tion and  distribution  of  the  Scriptures  was  invested  in  it. 

The  working  force  at  the  Bible  House  is  divided  into  executive  and 
manufacturing.  About  three  hundred  persons  are  employed.  The 
motive  power  is  a  sixty-horse  power  engine,  which  moves  presses  that 
print  about  two  million  Bibles  a  year.  There  is  also  a  Bible  for  the 
blind,  printed  in  raised  letters. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


195 


The  total  receipts  of  the  society  to  the  close  of  the  fiscal  year  ending 
March  31,  1882,  w<>re  si'n, :;!>'.», oitn,  of  which  amount  $3,400,000  were 
bequests  from  more  than  three  thousand  persons.  The  total  number  of 
volumes  issued  by  the  society  to  the  same  date  was  40, 407,584.  A 
large  proportion  of  these  were  distributed  among  the  soldiers  of  the 
army  and  seamen  ;  in  hotels,  railways,  and  steamboats,  criminal  and 
humane  institutions,  immigrants,  and  among  the  destitute  poor.  Tlie 
society  lias  circulated  the  Bible  in  more  than  eighty  different  languages 
and  dialects.* 

Xew  York  City  is  the  birthplace  of  the  Missionary  Society  ok  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States. 

One  Sunday  in  the  year  1816,  Marcus  Lindsay  was  preaching  in 
Marietta,  Ohio,  when  a  colored  man  named  Stewart  was  converted. 
While  praying  in  the  fields  afterward  Stewart  heard  a  voice,  like  that 
of  a  woman,  calling  to  him  from  the  north-west  to  preach  the  gospel, 
lie  obeyed.  With  a  knapsack  he  travelled  along  roads  and  through 
the  woods  until  he  came  upon  some  Delaware  Indians  who  were  pre- 
paring for  a  dance.  He  captivated  them  by  singing  a  hymn,  and  then 
he  preached  to  them.  He  went  on  farther  toward  the  north-west  until 
he  reached  Upper  Sandusky  (now  Fremont),  where  the  voice  that 
seemed  to  call  him  forward  ceased. 

At  the  house  of  the  agent  of  the  Wyandots  at  Sandusky,  Stewart 
met  Pointer,  a  backsliding  Methodist  Indian,  whom  he  had  known  in 
Kentucky.    The  evangelist  said  to  him  : 

"  To-morrow  I  must  preach  to  these  Indians,  and  you  must  inter- 
pret." 

"  How  can  I,  without  religion,  interpret  a  sermon  V  said  Pointer, 
bursting  into  tears. 

After  a  night  of  prayer,  Pointer  was  on  hand  the  next  day,  when 
Stewart  preached.  The  congregation  consisted  of  one  old  squaw. 
Stewait  preached  faithfully.  The  next  day  a  man  came  with  the  squaw. 
The  following  day  eight  or  ten  were  there,  and  soon  they  were  listen- 
ing in  crowds.  There  were  many  conversions.  This  extraordinary 
occurrence  was  noised  abroad.  The  Church  throughout  the  land  was 
deeply  stirred.  The  harvest  among  the  barbarians  of  the  forest  seemed 
waiting  for  the  sickle,  and  the  "  protracted  meeting''  at  Upper  San- 

*  The  president  of  the  American  Bible  Society  is  S.  L.  Williams,  LL.D.,  of  New  Haven, 
Conn.,  assisted  by  thirty-two  vice-presidents  in  various  States  of  the  Republic.  Its  sec- 
retaries are  the  Rev.  Drs.  Edward  W.  Oilman,  Alexander  McLean,  and  Albert  S.  Hunt  ; 
its  assistant  treasurer  is  Andrew  L.  Taylor,  and  its  general  agent  is  Caleb  T.  Rowe.  It 
has  thirty-four  managers. 


196 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


dusky  led  to  the  formation  of  the  Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  three  years  later. 

An  enterprising  young  merchant  in  New  York  City  (Gabriel  P. 
Disosway)  went  to  the  Rev.  Nathan  Bangs  *  and  pleaded  for  the 
immediate  organization  of  a  missionary  society  such  as  other  denomina- 
tions had  formed.  Mr.  Bangs  was  cautious.  He  conferred  with  the 
Rev.  Joshua  Soule.  The  project  was  favorably  considered.  Men  at 
the  West  pleaded.  The  matter  could  not  be  postponed.  Local  mis- 
sionary societies  were  springing  up. 

New  York  City  then  constituted  one  circuit.  The  preacher  in  charge 
met  the  preachers  in  weekly  conference.  At  one  of  these  meetings 
the  Rev.  Nathan  Bangs,  Freeborn  Garrettson,  Samuel  Merwin,  Joshua 
Soule,  Thomas  Marvin,  Laban  Clark,  Seth  Crowell,  Samuel  Howe,  and 
Thomas  Thorpe  were  present.  It  was  resolved  to  form  a  missionary 
society.  A  committee  (Clark,  Bangs,  and  Garrettson)  drafted  a  consti- 
tution, which  was  subsequently  submitted  to  a  public  meeting  of  the 
church  and  friends  of  missions  in  the  Forsyth  Street  meeting-house  on 
theevening  of  April  .">,  1  SI <>.  The  house  was  filled.  The  Rev.  Nathan 
Bangs  was  called  to  the  chair,  and  Francis  Hall  was  appointed  secre- 
tary.   On  mot  ion  of  Freeborn  Garrettson,  it  was 

"  RchoI 'red ',  That  it  is  expedient  for  this  meeting  to  form  a  Mis- 
sionary and  Bible  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in 
America." 

The  constitution  was  amended  and  adopted,  subscriptions  were  re- 
ceived, and  the  new-born  society  elected  its  officers.  They  chose  Bishop 
"William  McKendree  president,  Bishop  Enoch  George  first  vice-presi- 
dent. Bishop  Robert  T.  Roberts  second  vice-president,  the  Rev.  Nathan 
Bangs,  New  York  Conference,  third  vice-president,  Francis  Hall 
clerk,  Daniel  Ay  res  recording  secretary,  Thomas  Mason  corresponding 
secretary,  the  Rev.   Joshua  Soule  treasurer.    Thirty-two  managers 

*  Nathan  Bungs,  D.D.,  was  born  at  Stamford,  Conn.,  May  2,  1778,  and  died  in  New 
York  City  May  1,  1802.  He  began  business  life  as  a  schoolmaster  and  land  surveyor.  In 
1801,  at  the  age  of  twenty-three,  he  entered  the  Methodist  ministry  as  an  itinerant.  In 
this  pursuit  he.  travelled  seven  years  in  Canada.  In  1808  he  returned  to  the  United 
States  and  had  charge  of  circuits,  stations,  and  districts  until  1820,  when  he  was  ap- 
pointed agent  and  editor  of  the  Methodist  Book  Concern  in  the  city  of  New  York.  He 
was  for  five  years  editor  of  the  Christian  Advocate  and  Journal,  and  also  editor  of  the 
books  issued  from  the  Concern  for  several  years.  He  served  as  corresponding  secretary 
of  the  Missionary  Society  1830^41,  was  president  of  the  Wesleyan  University  at  Middle- 
town  1841-43,  and  for  ten  years  afterward  was  pastor  of  Methodist  churches  in  New 
York  City  and  Brooklyn.  Dr.  Bangs  wrote  several  valuable  books,  among  them  a  "  His- 
tory of  the  Methodist  Church"  and  a  "  History  of  Missions." 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


197 


were  chosen,  of  whom  twenty-six  wore  citizens  of  New  York,  three 
were  citizens  of  Brooklyn,  and  three  were  citizens  of  Westchester.* 

The  society  encountered  opposition  from  the  beginning,  especially  from 
Methodists  who  were  friends  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  because  of 
its  Bible  feature.  It  was  also  opposed  because  it  was  believed  that  it 
would  attempt  to  labor  in  a  foreign  lield  when,  it  was  argued,  the 
rapidly  increasing  population  in  our  own  country  would  demand  more 
money  and  laborers  than  the  church  could  supply.  The  society  had  a 
long  ami  persistent  struggle  with  prejudice,  ignorance,  and  misappre- 
hension, but  brave  souls  were  in  the  forefront  of  the  battle.  Auxiliary 
societies  were  formed  in  various  cities,  and  three  months  after  the 
organization  of  the  parent  society  a  Female  Auxiliary  Society  was 
formed  in  the  city  of  New  York,  of  which  Mrs.  Mary  W.  Mason  was 
chosen  president.  She  held  that  office  during  the  enth'e  existence  of 
the  society,  a  period  of  almost  half  a  century.  It  seems  to  have  ante- 
dated all  other  missionary  organizations  of  women  in  the  land. 

The  General  Conference  gave  the  enterprise  its  countenance  and 
moral  support.  It  steadily  overcame  obstacles,  and  soon  became  a  cher- 
ished institution  of  the  church.  Its  missions  spread  all  over  the  United 
States  and  beyond  on  the  American  continent,  and  the  banner  of  the 
Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  seen  in  time 
on  every  continent  and  on  many  islands  of  the  sea.  Its  harvests  have 
been  rich  and  marvellous  ;  its  ripe  and  gathered  sheaves  have  been 
abundant — tenfold  more  abundant  than  was  ever  dreamed  of  by  its 
founders. 

This  aggressive  missionary  society  has  flourishing  stations  in  Africa  ; 
in  Japan,  China,  and  India  in  Asia  ;  in  Germany  and  Switzerland  ;  in 
Scandinavia  (Denmark,  Norway,  and  Sweden)  ;  in  Italy  ;  in  Bulgaria 
and  Turkey  ;  in  Mexico  and  South  America,  and  all  over  the  domains 
of  our  Republic  where  missions  are  needed,  and  among  the  Indian 
tribes.  Everywhere  special  attention  is  given  to  the  establishment  of 
week-day  and  Sabbath  schools  for  the  instruction  of  adults  and  the 
young,  especially  for  the  latter. 

The  annual  receipts  of  the  society  from  voluntary  contributions  and 
apportionments  seem  to  be  adequate  to  meet  all  demands  upon  the 
treasury.  Its  work,  however,  is  continually  extended  in  proportion  to 
the  means  afforded.  Some  idea  of  the  extent  of  this  work  may  be 
formed  by  the  fact  that  the  appropriations  for  1883  for  carrying  on  the 

*  "Missions  and  Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,"  by  Rev. 
John  M.  Eeid,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


198 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


enterprise  were  about  $778,000.  Of  this  amount  nearly  one  half  was 
appropriated  to  foreign  missions.  The  largest  amount  of  contributions 
to  the  treasury  of  the  society,  in  one  year,  was  in  1SS1,  when  the 
amount  was  $691,666.* 

The  best  service  which  this  great  missionary  society  is  doing  for  the 
cause  of  Christianity  and  true  religion,  for  the  spread  of  rational  and 
enlightened  civilization  and  good  living  throughout  the  world,  is  done 
by  the  influence  of  its  numerous  schools  for  the  sound  education  of  the 
heads  and  hearts  of  the  young.  This  sweetening  and  strengthening 
the  fountains  of  life  is  truly  a  divine  service. 

The  present  New  York  Bible  Society  had  its  origin  in  the  year 
L822,  and  at  its  organization,  in  the  fall  of  1^23,  it  took  the  name  of 
"  The  Young  Men's  Bible  Society.'1 

During  the  prevalence  of  the  yellow  fever  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
in  the  summer  of  1822,  many  residents  and  business  men  below  Beek- 
man  Street  fled  from  the  pestilence  to  the  country  beyond  the  rivers  or 
to  the  sparsely  inhabited  region  on  the  island  above  Canal  Street.  On 
their  return  advantage  was  taken  of  an  extraordinary  religious  revival 
which  had  occurred  early  in  the  year,  beginning  in  the  Brick  (Presby- 
terian) Church,  of  which  the  late  Dr.  Spring  Avas  pastor,  to  enlist 
young  men  of  the  city  in  the  cause  of  a  wider  spread  of  the  Bible. 

There  then  existed  in  the  city  a  c'  New  York  Bible  Society,"  which 
had  been  formed  in  1819  by  the  union  of  two  similar  associations. 
That  society  strongly  favored  the  idea  of  a  kindred  association,  as  an 
auxiliary  or  otherwise,  composed  of  young  men,  and  was  active  in  the 
formation  of  the  new  association.  Already  other  societies  were 
actively  engaged  in  the  same  work,  notably  the  American  Bible 
Society,  The  Auxiliary  Female  Bible  Society,  The  Marine  Bible 
Society,  and  The  Young  Ladies1  Bible  Society,  all  laboring  vigorously 
in  the  city  of  New  York.  Yet  there  appeared  to  be  a  special  work  of 
usefulness  for  young  men  to  do,  and  at  a  meeting  held  in  a  school-room 
in  Thames  Street,  on  September  22,  1823,  the  Young  Men's  Bible 
Society  was  formed,  with  Horatio  Gillet  as  president  ;  Anthony  P. 

*  The  officers  of  the  society  (1883)  are  :  the  Rev.  Bishop  Matthew  Simpson,  D.D.,  presi- 
dent ;  Bishops  Bowman.  Harris,  Foster,  Wiley,  Merrill,  Andrews,  Peck,  Warren,  Foss, 
and  Hunt,  and  the  Rev.  Drs.  Crawford,  Curry,  and  Wise,  and  Messrs.  G.  L.  Fancher,  J. 
H.  Taft,  Oliver  Hoyt,  H.  W.  Forrester,  and  George  J.  Ferry,  vice-presidents  ;  John 
M.  Reid  and  Charles  Fowler,  corresponding  secretaries  ;  J.  M.  Phillips,  treasurer  • 
J.  M.  Waldron,  assistant  treasurer  ;  James  N.  Fitzgerald,  recording  secretary,  and 
David  Terry,  emeritus  recording  secretary. 


FIKST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


109 


Halsey,  George  Colgate,  John  Xeilson,  Jr  ,  Louis  King,  Henry 
Bennett,  and  John  Sands,  vice-presidents  ;  Frederick  Bull,  correspond- 
ing secretary  :  George  A.  Bartow,  recording  secretary,  and  Silas  M. 
Butler,  treasurer.    There  was  a  hoard  of  managers  appointed. 

In  October  the  president  and  secretary  were  authorized  to  purchase 
one  hundred  Bibles  for  distribution,  and  in  November  the  store  of 
J.  P.  Havens  was  made  the  "  repository"  of  the  Bibles. 

At  the  outset  the  new  association  found  little  to  do.  The  field  was 
already  filled  with  laborers,  and  it  was  compelled  for  some  time  to 
"  stand  in  the  market-place  all  the  day,  idle,"  because  it  could  not  find 
legitimate  employment.  So  late  as  the  close  of  March,  1824,  there 
had  been  only  one  Bible  "  distributed." 

"Wearied  with  the  irksomeness  of  enforced  inactivity,  the  society,  in 
May  following,  offei'ed  to  supply  the  Sabbath-schools  of  the  city  with 
Bibles,  tor  prizes,  a  labor  hitherto  performed  by  the  elder  society,  to 
which  the  tender  of  the  personal  services  of  the  board  was  made. 
These  proposals  were  acceded  to,  and  the  Young  Men's  Bible  Society 
began  its  work,  which  has  never  since  ceased.  The  methods  of  per- 
forming its  labors  were  defective,  and  were  soon  afterward  modified. 

The  society  worked  in  harmony  with  cognate  institutions.  It 
engaged  in  the  good  work  of  supplying  destitute  families  with  the 
Scriptures,  and  in  1830  it  began  the  service  of  supplying  the  humane 
and  criminal  institutions  with  Bibles  and  Testaments.  The  same  year 
the  society  sent  two  thousand  Testaments  for  Sabbath-schools  to  be 
formed  in  the  Western  States,  and  at  the  beginning  of  1831  fully  three 
thousand  Testaments  were  forwarded  to  St.  Louis.  Soon  after  this  the 
Young  Ladies'  Xew  York  Bible  Society  relieved  it  of  the  burden  of 
supplying  the  Sunday-schools  of  the  city  with  Bibles. 

The  sphere  and  influence  of  the  Young  Men's  Bible  Society  rapidly 
expanded  in  all  directions.  In  the  summer  of  1S31  the  Xew  York  City 
Bible  Society  surrendered  its  field  of  operations  to  it,  and  in  1840  the 
Marine  Bible  Society  turned  its  work  over  to  the  vigorous  associa- 
tion which  was  then  supplying  seamen,  soldiers  in  garrisons,  and  the 
city  hotels  with  the  Scriptures.  Finally  the  "  Parent  Society,"  as  it 
was  called — the  Xew  York  Bible  Society — gave  up  its  work  and  its 
name  to  its  younger  coadjutor,  and  it  has  since  been  known  as  the 
Xew  York  Bible  Society.  During  the  Civil  War  its  labors  were 
immense  and  salutary.  Its  means  were  adequate  to  its  wants,  for  its 
energy  and  good  judgment  were  proverbial,  and  contributions  to  the 
society  were  generous. 


200 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


The  work  of  the  New  York  Bible  Society  *  still  <xoes  vigorously  on 
in  the  distribution  of  the  Scriptures  among  the  destitute  of  the  city,  the 
arriving  immigrants  at  Castle  Garden,  the  seamen  who  go  from  the 
port  of  New  York,  and  in  other  fields.  During  the  eleven  months 
ending  August  31,  1882,  the  society  distributed  in  the  homes  of  the 
city,  among  the  immigrants  at  Castle  Garden,  and  among  the  shipping, 
125,1*35  copies  of  the  Scriptures — Bibles,  Testaments,  and  parts  of  the 
Bible.  Forty-two  of  the  benevolent  and  criminal  institutions  of  the 
city,  23  Sunday-schools,  and  17  missions  were  supplied. f 

An  active  and  powerful  auxiliary  of  the  society  above  mentioned  in 
the  diffusion  of  religious  knowledge  and  evangelical  Christian  principles 
is  the  American  Tbaot  Society  in  the  city  of  New  York,  undenomina- 
tional in  its  character.  It  was  founded  in  182."),  with  a  view  to  uniting 
local  tract  societies  which  had  sprung  up,  in  one  national  institution. 
The  New  England  Tract  Society,  which  had  been  founded  at  Amherst, 
was  then  located  at  Boston,  with  the  name  of  the  American  Tract 
Society.  It  united  with  the  New  York  National  Society  as  a  branch 
of  that  institution,  and  that  union  continued  until  1859,  when  the  hesi- 
tancy of  the  society  to  publish  tracts  on  slavery  caused  the  Boston 
branch  to  withdraw  and  resume  its  independent  position  for  some 
years. 

For  the  first  two  years  of  the  existence  of  the  American  Tract 
Society  only  tracts  were  published,  for  adults  and  children.  In  the 
third  year  volumes  appeared,  and  in  the  fourth  year  systematic  tract 
distribution  was  begun.  The  colportagc  system  was  adopted  in  1841. 
That  system  has  been  the  mainspring  which  has  kept  the  work  of 
the  society  in  successful  operation.  From  that  time  to  1875,  a 
period  of  thirty-four  years,  the  colporteurs  had  distributed  10,500,000 
copies  of  its  publications,  of  which  number  2, 780, 000  were  given  away. 

The  publication  of  periodicals  devoted  to  the  cause  of  the  society  was 
the  next  step  in  its  progress.  The  American  Messenger  was  first  pub- 
lished, then  a  paper  similar  to  the  Messenger  in  the  German  language. 
In  1852  the  publication  of  The  Child'*  /'itj/er  was  begun.    These  were 

*  The  officers  of  the  society  for  the  year  ending  September  1,  1882,  were  :  Morris  Bud- 
long,  president  ;  Daniel  J.  Holden,  Alfred  Neilson,  vice-presidents  ;  James  Kydd,  corre- 
sponding secretary  ;  W.  Iff.  Williams,  recording  secretary  ;  Joseph  A.  Welch,  treasurer. 
It  has  six  agents,  namely,  Alexander  Watson,  John  S.  Pierson,  William  G.  Jones,  K.  W. 
Kraemer,  Ernst  Jackson,  W.  H.  R.  Neilson,  and  forty-eight  managers. 

f  Mr.  Pierson,  one  of  the  agents,  writes  :  "  This  report  (1882)  does  not  show  the  pres- 
ent work  of  the  society  fairly,  as  there  has  been  a  temporary  relaxation  of  work  in  some 
departments,  pending  proposed  changes." 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1810. 


201 


iill  published  monthly.  The  Child's  Paper  \v;is  handsomely  illustrated 
from  the  bearinniner.  It  now  has  a  circulation  of  nearlv  one  hundred 
and  eighty  thousand  monthly.  In  1S71  three  new  periodicals  were 
added  to  those  already  mentioned — the  111 >i strafed  Christian  Weekly, 
the  German  People's  Friend,  a  small  weekly,  and  the  Morning  Light, 
for  beginners.  The  society  also  publishes  an  illustrated  paper  in  the 
Spanish  language,  called  the  Star  of  Bethlehem. 

The  operations  of  the  American  Tract  Society  are  now  immense  in 
volume  and  far-reaching  and  salutary  in  their  influence.  The  whole 
number  of  distinct  publications  issued  by  the  society  in  1882  were  657-1, 
of  which  144s  were  bound  volumes,  the  remainder  paper-covered  books, 
tracts,  leaflets,  cards,  and  handbills.  The  whole  number  issued  at  for- 
eign stations,  approved  by  the  society's  Publication  Committee,  was 
4321,  of  which  686  were  bound  volumes.  These  various  publications 
may  be  classed  under  the  heads  of  expository,  Christian  evidences, 
biography,  narratives  for  young  people,  narratives  for  children,  stories 
for  young  children,  awakening  and  conversion,  consolation,  and  Chris- 
tian edification.  The  books  and  tracts  are  printed  in  the  English, 
German,  French,  and  Spanish  languages. 

The  American  Tract  Society  possesses  a  spacious  brick  building,  five 
stories  in  height,  on  the  corner  of  Nassau  and  Spruce  streets,  New 
York.  When  the  society  was  formed  Spruce  Street  was  a  narrow 
lane.  On  the  site  of  the  Tract  House  was  a  miserable  old  wooden 
tavern,  and  opposite  it,  on  the  site  of  the  New  York  Times  building, 
was  a  one-story  wooden  lecture-room  belonging  to  the  Brick  Church 
on  Beekman  Street.  This  was  replaced  by  a  neat  brick  edifice  a  few 
years  afterward.  The  Tract  Society  and  the  New  York  Observer  were 
the  pioneers  of  the  printing  establishments  which  have  since  given  the 
open  space  in  that  neighborhood  the  name  of  Printing-House  Square. 
The  society  is  governed  by  a  board  of  directors,  elected  annually.* 

One  of  the  latest  and  best  organizations  in  the  city  of  New  York  for 
promoting  the  spiritual  and  temporal  welfare  of  the  people  of  the  city, 
especially  of  the  poor,  is  that  of  the  New  York  Crrv  Mission  and 
Tkact  Society,  organized  in  1S27. 

The  germ  of  this  institution  was  planted  (as  is  frequently  the  case) 

*  The  officers  for  1882-83  are  :  Hon.  William  Strong,  LL.D.,  of  Philadelphia,  president; 
Kt.  Rev.  Benjamin  B.  Smith,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  of  New  York  City,  vice-president,  with  fifty- 
one  honorary  vice-presidents  ;  Rev.  J.  M.  Stevenson,  D.  D.,  corresponding  secretary,  with 
colportage  ;  Rev.  William  W.  Rand,  publishing  secretary  ;  Rev.  G.  L.  Shearer,  financial 
secretary  ;  Samuel  E.  Warner,  assistant  secretary  ;  Rev.  Thomas  Armitage,  D.D.,  record- 
ing secretary  ;  0.  R.  Kingsbury,  treasurer. 


202 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


by  a  woman.  A  woman's  mind  conceived  its  plan,  and  a  woman's 
hand  began  the  good  work.  Dr.  Adam  Clarke  said,  in  substance  :  "In 
all  benevolent  works  one  woman  is  equal  to  seven  men  and  a  half." 

The  incipient  step  in  the  formation  of  this  society  was  taken  by  the 
noble  wife  of  Divie  Bethune,  the  daughter  of  the  sainted  Isabella 
Graham,  in  the  year  1822.  The  organization  was  completed  by  the 
adoption  of  a  constitution  and  the  appointment  of  officers,  at  a  public 
meeting  held  at  the  Brick  Church  chapel,  on  the  site  of  the  New  York 
Times  building,  March  25,  1822.  This,  it  is  believed,  was  the  first  step 
in  organized  woman's  work  in  city  missions,  and  in  the  work  of  dis- 
tributing religious  tracts. 

This  association  of  women  went  on  quietly  and  unostentatiously, 
doing  a  vast  amount  of  good  labor,  and  working  with  the  American 
Tract  Society  until  1827,  when  men,  perceiving  their  good  deeds  and 
appreciating  their  influence,  resolved  to  form  a  City  Tract  Society  on 
the  same  plan.  Accordingly,  the  following  notice  appeared  in  the 
Comini  rcial  Advt  rtiser,  of  which  the  good  Francis  Hall  was  proprietor, 
on  the  li'th  of  February,  1827  : 

"  A  public  meeting  will  be  held  at  the  City  Hotel  this  evening,  at 
7£  o'clock,  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  New  York  City  Tract  Society, 
for  the  supply  of  our  seamen,  our  humane  and  criminal  institutions, 
and  for  other  local  tract  operations  in  this  city.  Several  addresses  will 
be  delivered.  A  general  attendance  of  all  who  are  friendly  to  the 
object  is  requested." 

A  large  assemblage  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  convened  on  the  specified 
evening.  The  venerable  Colonel  Richard  Varick,*the  president  of  the 
American  Bible  Society,  and  then  seventy-five  years  of  age,  presided, 
and  the  Rev.  W.  A.  Ilallock  was  chosen  secretary.  The  meeting  was 
addressed  by  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Somers  and  Monteith,  and  by  the  Rev. 

*  Richard  Varick  was  born  in  Hackensack,  N.  J.,  in  March,  1753,  and  died  in  Jersey 
City,  N.  J.,  in  July,  1831.  He  was  a  lawyer  practising  in  New  York  City  when  the  old 
war  for  independence  began.  He  entered  the  military  service  as  captain  in  Macdougall's 
regiment,  joined  the  Northern  army  under  General  Schuyler,  and  became  that  officer's 
secretary.  He  was  afterward  deputy  muster-master-general,  with  the  rank  of  lieutenant- 
colonel.  After  the  capture  of  Burgoyne,  Varick  was  acting  inspector-general  at  West 
Point,  where  he  remained  until  after  the  treason  of  Arnold,  when  he  became  a  member 
of  General  Washington's  military  family,  and  was  his  recording  secretary  until  near  the 
close  of  the  war.  After  the  British  evacuated  the  city  of  New  York,  in  1783,  Colonel 
Varick  was  appointed  recorder.  He  assisted  in  the  revision  of  the  State  laws.  He  was 
Speaker  of  the  Assembly  in  1787.  In  1789  he  was  appointed  attorney-general  of  the 
State,  and  subsequently  mayor  of  New  York.  Colonel  Varick  was  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  American  Bible  Society,  and  succeeded  John  Jay  as  its  president. 


FIRST  DECADE,  18^0-1840. 


203 


Drs.  Milnor,  Knox,  Spring,  Brodhead,  and  Macaulay.  The  participants 
were  persona  of  various  religious  denominations.  A  constitution  was 
read,  adopted,  and  numerously  signed  by  ministers  and  laymen. 

The  officers  of  the  society  chosen  for  the  first  year  were  :  Zachariah 
Lewis,  president  ;  the  Itevs.  John  Stanford,  Cave  Jones,  and  Henry 
Chase,  Drs.  John  Xeilson  and  John  Stearns,  and  Messrs.  Thomas 
Stokes,  Gerard  Beekman,  and  Arthur  Tappan,  vice-presidents  ;  Gerard 
Halleck,  corresponding  secretary  ;  Oliver  E.  Cobb,  recording  secre- 
tary, and  Ralph  Beekman,  treasurer.  Seventy  directors  were  chosen. 
Among  them  appeared  many  names  whose  bearers  have  been  conspicu- 
ous in  every  good  work  in  the  city  until  our  day. 

Perceiving,  from  actual  observation,  the  pressing  need  of  woman's 
influence  and  woman's  work  in  their  operations,  the  society  founded  by 
Mrs.  Bethune  was  made  an  "annex"  of  the  society  just  formed.  In- 
stead of  the  two  sexes  laboring  together — instead  of  joining  forces  as 
one  family  on  an  equal  footing  as  to  duties  and  privileges— the  women's 
society  was  permitted  to  take  the  rank  only  of  an  "  auxiliary"  of  the 
men's  society  ;  and  to  this  day  it  is  called  the  Woman's  Branch  of  the 
New  York  City  Mission  and  Tract  Society,  with  a  separate  organiza- 
tion, in  which  only  women  are  officers  and  honorary  members,  mission- 
aries, and  nurses.  They  make  separate  reports,  but  claim  the  right, 
and  exercise  it,  of  dating  their  "  branch"  from  1822,  five  veal's  before 
the  men's  society  existed. 

The  main  society,  at  its  first  organization,  appointed  a  woman  agent. 
She  seems  to  have  been  very  efficient,  for  at  the  end  of  her  first 
month's  labor  she  reported  visits  to  ninety  families,  and  calls  upon  sev- 
eral clergymen  in  reference  to  forming  auxiliary  tract  societies  in  the 
several  churches. 

During  the  first  year  the  New  York  City  Mission  and  Tract  Society, 
through  the  agency  of  its  committees  and  volunteer  visitors,  distributed 
2,368,548  pages,  or  592,137  tracts  of  four  pages  each.  At  the  end  of 
six  or  seven  years,  so  useful  and  so  extended  became  the  work  that  it 
was  deemed  advisable  to  engage  men  as  missionaries  who  should  devote 
their  whole  time  to  Christian  efforts  among  the  poor  and  neglected. 
Mainly  through  the  liberality  of  two  or  three  persons,  the  society  was 
enabled,  in  1833,  to  begin  this  its  best  missionary  work.  Within  two 
years  the  number  of  these  missionaries  was  increased  to  fourteen.  For 
thirty  years  these  "  tract  missionaries,"  as  they  were  called,  carried  on 
their  evangelizing  work  with  great  success,  having  distributed  during 
that  time  an  aggregate  of  30,000,000  tracts,  been  instrumental  in 
effecting  7000  conversions,  and  spending  §-±00,000.    They  had  brought 


204 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


thousands  of  men,  women,  and  children  into  churches  and  Sabbath- 
schools,  and  planted  many  a  fruitful  seed  by  the  agency  of  prayer- 
meetings  in  neglected  neighborhoods. 

In  1804  the  society  was  reorganized.  A  secretary  was  appointed, 
with  enlarged  duties  and  powers,  and  a  room  in  the  Bible  House  was 
rented.  Then  it  began  the  publication  of  reports  and  papers  on  the 
methods  and  results  of  city  evangelization.  At  the  annual  meethv 
that  year  the  name  of  the  institution  was  changed  to  that  of  the  New 
York  City  Mission  and  Tract  Society,  which  it  now  bears,  and  in  1800 
it  was  incorporated  by  the  Legislature  of  New  York.  The  same  year 
a  superintendent  *>f  missions  was  appointed  for  the  organization  of  mis- 
sion chapels  and  sendees.  The  first  of  these  chapels  was  established  in 
1807,  and  known  as  Olivet  Chapel.  It  is  between  First  and  Second 
streets  and  First  and  Second  avenues.  Other  chapels  and  services  Avere 
soon  organized,  and  the  good  work  (the  amount  of  which  is  incalcula- 
ble) has  gone  on  with  ever-increasing  power  and  beneficence. 

According  to  the  annual  report  of  the  society  for  1882  there  were  5 
mission  churches  and  chapels;  47  missionaries  employed  ;  5  mission 
Sabbath -schools,  with  2500  children  taught  during  the  year  ;  aggregate 
attendance  upon  religious  services  during  the  year",  250,000  ;  2245 
families  and  8980  individuals  aided,  and  $4422  cash  distributed  ;  2301 
Bibles  and  Testaments  given  away,  and  10,030  volumes  loaned  and 
given  :  2040  children  led  to  Sal >bath -schools  and  306  to  day-schools  ; 
13,030  persons  persuaded  to  attend  churches  and  missions  ;  998  temper- 
ance pledges  signed,  and  750,000  tracts  distributed.  It  now  employs 
18  missionaries. 

During  the  fifty-six  years  of  its  existence  the  society  has  distributed 
about  53,000,000  tracts,  made  2,000,000  missionary  visits,  supplied  to 
the  destitute  92,357  Bibles  and  Testaments,  loaned  and  given  about 
189,000  books,  gathered  into  Sabbath-schools  119,309  children,  and 
into  day-schools  24,090  ;  induced  270).  118  persons  to  attend  divine  ser- 
vices, obtained  59,342  temperance  pledges,  and  expended  $1,331,483. 
In  addition  to  this  sum  more  than  $200,000  have  been  raised  for  build- 
ing chapels  and  churches  in  the  city.  In  1870  the  mission  converts 
were  organized  in  bands  of  Christian  brotherhoods,  and  the  Christian 
ordinances  were  administered  in  the  mission  chapels.  These  are 
undenominational. 

The  Woman's  Branch  of  the  New  York  City  Mission  and  Tract 
Society  resolved  in  1803  that  henceforth  their  work  should  be  directed 
to  raising  the  money  for  the  support  of  the  missionary  women.  It  was 
reorganized  in  1875.    The  board  of  managers  constituted  five  of  their 


FIRST  DECADE,  1330-1810. 


205 


number  an  executive  committee,  to  give  special  attention  to  business 
details.  A  superintendent  was  appointed  to  give  instruction  and  direc- 
tions to  missionary  women,  write  up  a  history  of  their  work,  and  make 
appeals  to  the  benevolent  women  of  the  city.  According  to  the  six- 
teenth annual  report  (for  1882)  the  benevolent  work  of  the  Woman's 
Branch  has  been  widely  extended  in  its  scope  and  usefulness.  The 
Branch  is  separate  from  the  City  Mission  Society  in  organization  and 
support.  It  holds  intimate  relations  with  the  Association  for  Improv- 
ing the  Condition  of  the  Poor.  It  employs  eight  female  missionary 
nurses  who  have  been  trained  in  hospitals,  and  thirty-three  missionary 
women.  It  has  sewing  schools  and  sewing  meetings  for  the  poor  ; 
promotes  the  cause  of  temperance  among  children  of  intemperate 
parents  by  Hands  of  Hope  ;  has  a  pleasant  Christian  Workers1  Home 
for  the  missionaries,  which  embraces,  in  the  family,  twenty-two  mis- 
sionaries and  nurses.  It  distributed  in  1882  64,000  tracts  and  about 
1100  Bibles,  took  about  800  children  to  Sabbath-schools,  made  25,000 
missionary  visits,  gave  away  over  3000  garments,  gave  for  the  relief  of 
the  sick  and  destitute  $3325,  and  furnished  the  services  of  nurses  to  2700 
patients.* 

*  The  officers  of  the  City  Mission  and  Tract  Society  for  1883  are  :  Morris  K.  Jesup, 
president  ;  John  Taylor  Johnston,  vice-president,  and  Lewis  E.  Jackson,  recording  sec- 
retary and  treasurer.    There  are  forty-eight  directors. 

The  officers  of  the  Woman's  Branch  are  :  Mrs.  Morris  K.  Jesup,  first  directress  ;  Mrs. 
Horace  Holden,  second  directress  ;  Miss  Mary  N.  Wright,  treasurer  ;  Mrs.  II.  M.  Field, 
secretary,  and  Mrs.  A.  E.  Brown,  superintendent.  There  are  thirty-two  active  managers, 
representing  fourteen  churches,  all  Presbyterian  or  lieformed. 


CHAPTER  X. 


XE  of  the  most  important  associations  in  a  commercial  city  is  an 


V-X  organization  of  judicious  men  having  a  special  oversight  of  every- 
thing pertaining  to  its  trade,  ever  watchful  of  all  its  industrial  interests, 
vigilant  in  the  detection  of  legislation  inimical  to  those  interests,  and 
wise  in  its  suggestions  regarding  enactments  which  touch,  for  good  or 
evil,  the  springs  of  prosperity  of  the  country. 

Among  these  organizations  the  Xkw  York  Chamber  of  Commerce  is 
the  oldest  and  most  influential  of  its  kind  in  the  United  States.  It  was 
constituted  in  17<>S  by  twenty  leading  merchants  in  that  city,  some  of 
whom  afterward  appeared  conspicuous  in  public  affairs,  especially  dur- 
ing the  war  for  independence,  which  broke  out  soon  afterward.  Some 
of  them  were  on  one  side  and  some  on  the  other,  in  the  discussion  of 
the  vital  political  questions  of  the  day. 

These  merchants  associated  for  the  avowed  purpose  ''of  promoting 
and  extending  all  just  and  lawful  commerce,  and  for  affording  relief  to 
decayed  members,  their  widows  and  children."  The  association 
received  a  charter  from  Lieutenant-Governor  Colden,  dated  March  13, 
17"! »,  giving  it  the  name  of  "  The  Corporation  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  in  the  City  of  Xew  York."  The  privileges  of  this  royal 
charter  were  confirmed  by  the  State  government  of  Xew  York  in  1784. 

That  association  was  organized  in  troublous  times.  The  industries  of 
the  English-American  colonies  were  in  a  depressed  state.  Unwise  and 
unjust  navigation  and  revenue  laws,  and  persistent  resistance  to  the 
operation  of  these  laws,  had  deranged  commerce,  and  uncertainty  had 
paralyzed  business  of  every  kind.  The  great  quarrel  between  Great 
Britain  and  her  American  colonies,  which  speedily  led  to  a  dismember- 
ment of  the  empire,  was  then  waxing  hot.  Non-importation  agree- 
ments and  ministerial  menaces  had  created  a  feverish  state  of  mind  on 
both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  It  was  at  this  juncture  that  these  twenty 
merchants  met  and  formed  the  venerable  association  which  exists  in 
full  vigor  and  abounding  usefulness  to-day.  It  resolved,  at  the  outset 
of  its  career,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Verplanek,  that  none  but  merchants 
should  be  members  of  that  body.    At  that  period  the  merchants  con- 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


207 


trolled  the  politics  of  Xew  York.  A  majority  of  the  Provincial 
Assembly  Avere  merchants. 

Although  Massachusetts  had  just  issued  its  famous  circular  letter  to 
its  sister  colonies,  asking  them  to  unite  in  resisting  the  oppressive 
measures  of  Parliament  ;  although  Xew  York  City  Avas  in  a  blaze  of 
excitement,  and  the  Sons  of  Liberty  Avere  stoutly  defending  their  lib- 
erty-pole against  the  ruthless  hands  of  insolent  British  soldiers — force 
against  force — and  civil  war  seemed  imminent,  these  twenty  merchants, 
calm  and  dignified  in  the  midst  of  the  storm,  made  only  the  following 
minute  of  their  proceedings  at  the  momentous  meeting  on  April  5, 
1768  : 

"  Whereas,  Mercantile  societies  have  been  found  very  useful  in  trad- 
ing cities,  for  promoting  and  encouraging  commerce,  supporting  indus- 
try, adjusting  disputes  relative  to  trade  and  navigation,  and  procuring 
such  laws  and  regulations  as  may  be  found  necessary  for  the  benefit  of 
trade  in  general  : 

"  For  which  purpose,  and  to  establish  such  a  society  in  the  city  of 
Xew  York,  the  following  persons  com*ened  on  the  first  Tuesday  in, 
and  being  the  5th  day  of,  April,  1768  : 


"  John  Cruger,  Thomas  "White, 

Elias  Desbrosses,  Miles  Sherbrooke, 

James  Jauncey,  Walter  Franklin, 

Jacob  "Walton,  Robert  Ross  Waddel, 

Robert  Murray,  Acheron  Thompson, 

Hugh  "Wallace,  Lawrence  Kortright, 

George  Folliot,  Thomas  Randall, 

William  Walton,  William  McAdam, 

Samuel  Yer  Planck,  Isaac  Loav, 

Theophylact  Bache,  Anthony  Van  Dam, 

who  agreed  that  the  said  society  of  merchants  should  consist  of 

"  A  president,  vice-president,  treasurer,  and  secretary,  and  such  a 
number  of  merchants  as  already  are,  or  hereafter  may  become,  mem- 
bers thereof,  to  be  called  and  known  by  the  name  of  The  Xew  York 
Chamber  of  Commerce. 

"  The  members  present  unanimously  chose  the  following  gentlemen 
their  officers  for  the  year,  to  commence  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  May 
next  : 

"  John  Cruger,  president  :  Elias  Desbrosses,  treasurer  ; 

Hugh  Wallace,  vice-president  ;      Anthony  Yan  Dam,  secretary. 


208 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


"  The  following  gentlemen,  who  are  of  the  society,  not  being  pres- 
ent, assented  to  the  same  : 


John  Cruger,  the  first  president  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  was 
mayor  of  the  city  at  the  time  of  its  organization,  and  was  speaker  of 
the  Colonial  Assembly  from  1769  to  1775.  During  the  perilous  times 
preceding  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution  his  influence  was  powerfully 
exerted  in  maintaining  order  among  the  citizens.  An  active  member 
of  the  Stamp  Act  Congress  which  met  in  New  York  in  1705,  he  was 
chosen  to  prepare  the  famous  Declaration  of  Rights  which  was  put 
forth  by  that  body.  Mr.  Cruger  left  the  city  before  it  was  occupied 
by  the  British  in  1 77<'». 

The  brothers  Walton,  Jacob  and  William,  were  among  the  most 
eminent  and  opulent  merchants  of  New  York  in  the  middle  of  the  last 
century.  Jacob  died  in  17<'»;t.  William,  who  was  a  son-in-law  of 
De  Lancey,  built  the  beautiful  mansion  in  Pearl  Street,  New  York, 
opposite  the  (present)  publishing  establishment  of  Harper  &  Brothers, 
and  known  as  the  Walton  House.  It  disappeared  a  few  years  ago, 
before  the  march  of  commercial  business.  It  was,  when  built,  the 
most  elegant  mansion  on  the  continent. 

Robert  Murray  and  Walter  Franklin  represented  the  Quaker  element 
in  the  commercial  features  of  New  York  at  that  time.  Murray  had  a 
country-seat  on  the  Incleberg  (now  known  as  Murray  Hill,  in  the  city  ), 
and  it  was  at  that  mansion  where  Mrs.  Murray  detained  the  British 
officers,  by  good  cheer  and  fascinating  conversation,  while  General 
Putnam,  with  a  detachment  of  the  Continental  army,  flying  from  the 
menaced  city  of  New  York,  made  good  his  retreat  to  the1  main  army, 
encamped  on  Harlem  Heights. 

The  Chamber  of  Commerce  maintained  its  organization  and  held 
meetings  pretty  regularly  during  the  later  portion  of  the  stirring  period 
of. the  Revolution.  Its  sessions  ended  in  May,  1775,  but  on  the  21st  of 
dune,  177!*,  such  of  its  members  (mostly  Tories)  who  remained  in  the 
city  met  in  the  Merchants'  Coffee- 1  louse,  corner  of  Wall  and  Water 
streets,  and  with  the  consent  of  the  British  commandant  renewed  the 
sessions  of  the  Chamber.  Its  operations  were  chiefly  directed  to  aiding 
the  military  governor  in  municipal  affairs,  such  as  regulating  the  prices 
of  provisions,  the  rates  for  carmen's  services,  and  also  for  the  encourage- 
ment of  privateering,  by  assistance  in  recruiting  for  that  service  under 
the  proclamations  of  the  British  admirals. 


John  Alsop, 
Henry  White, 


Philip  Livingston, 
James  McEvers.,r 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


209 


In  1770  Mr.  Cruger  retired  from  the  presidency.  His  successors  in 
the  office  until  the  return  of  peace  were  Hugh  Wallace,  Elias  Des- 
brosses,  Henry  White,  Theophylact  Bache,  William  Walton,  and  Isaac- 
Low.  The  act  of  reincorporation  passed  the  Legislature  of  New  York 
on  April  13,  178-1.  The  corporators  named  were  Samuel  Broome, 
Jeremiah  Piatt,  John  Broome,  Benjamin  Ledyard,  Thomas  Randall, 
Robert  Bowne,  Daniel  Phoenix,  Jacob  Morris,  Eliphalet  Brush,  James 
Jarvis,  John  Blagge,  Viner  Van  Zandt,  Stephen  Sayre,  Jacobus  Van 
Zandt,  Nathaniel  Hazard,  Abraham  P.  Lott,  Abraham  Duryee,  William 
Malcolm,  John  Alsop,  Isaac  Sears,  James  Beekman,  Abraham  Lott, 
Comfort  Sands,  Joseph  Blackwell,  Joshua  Sands,  Lawrence  Embree, 
George  Embree,  Gerardus  Duyckinck,  Jr.,  Cornelius  Ray,  Anthony 
Griffiths,  Thomas  Tucker,  John  Berrian,  Isaac  Roosevelt,  John  Frank- 
lin, John  II.  Kip,  Henry  II.  Kip,  Archibald  Currie,  David  Currie,  and 
.1 « tnathan  Lawrence. 

The  descendants  of  most  of  these  men  who  revived  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  after  peace  was  established,  and  were  the  active  coadjutors 
of  the  first  president  of  the  reincorporated  institution  (John  Alsop  *),  are 
recognized  among  the  leading  architects  of  the  commercial  greatness  of 
New  York  City,  which  developed  so  wonderfully  after  the  completion 
of  the  Erie  Canal.  They  have  ranked  among  the  most  enterprising, 
honorable,  and  prosperous  merchants,  and  by  their  business  probity 
and  high  personal  character  as  citizens  have  contributed  largely  to  the 
elements  which  constitute  the  good  name  of  the  metropolis. 

From  May,  1775,  until  June,  1779,  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  as 
we  have  observed,  did  not  hold  a  meeting.  From  the  time  the  British 
took  possession  of  the  city  in  1770  until  they  evacuated  it,  many  of  the 
members,  of  English  descent,  co-operated  with  the  British  authorities, 
naval  and  military.  From  its  recharter  in  1 7Si  it  has  been  an  active 
body  in  New  York,  having  cognizance  of  most  of  the  subjects  of  a 
commercial  nature  which  have  been  before  the  community. 

The  Chamber  of  Commerce  proposed  the  union  of  the  Great  Lakes 
with  the  Hudson  River  so  early  as  1786 — the  suggestion  of  the  Erie 
Canal.  Of  the  entire  canal  policy  of  the  State,  especially  that  of  De 
Witt  Clinton  and  his  coadjutors,  from  1811  until  the  completion  of  the 

*  John  Alsop  was  an  opulent  merchant  anil  a  most  earnest  patriot.  He  was  a  native 
of  Middletown,  Conn.,  to  which  place  he  retired  when  the  British  took  possession  of 
New  York  in  1776.  Alsop  was  a  man  of  great  intellectual  strength.  He  was  a  represen- 
tative of  New  York  in  the  first  Continental  Congress  in  1774,  and  remained  in  that  body 
until  1776.  His  daughter  Mary  became  the  wife  of  the  eminent  Ilufus  King.  Mr. 
Alsop  died  at  Newtown,  L.  I  ,  in  November,  1794. 


210 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


great  artificial  aqueous  highway  in  1S25,  this  body  was  a  uniform  and 
powerful  supporter.  While  others  doubted  and  many  sneered,  the 
Avise  and  enterprising  merchants  of  New  York  who  composed  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  were  its  firm  friends. 

The  Chamber  made  the  first  movement  in  favor  of  fortifying  the 
city  of  New  York,  by  a  memorial  to  Congress,  sent  by  the  hands  of 
Colonel  Ebenezer  Stevens  in  1798,  when  war  with  France  seemed  im- 
minent. Stevens  was  an  active  member  of  the  Chamber.  One  of  its 
most  efficient  members  at  its  revival  was  John  Pintard,  who,  as  we 
have  observed  in  speaking  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  was 
foremost  in  every  good  work  in  the  city  for  a  quarter  of  a  century. 

In  all  the  vicissitudes  in  public  affairs  which  at  different  periods  have 
unsettled  the  national  policy  and  disturbed  the  relations  of  commerce, 
this  Chamber  has  steadily  adhered  to  the  line  of  duty  it  had  originally 
assumed,  abstaining  from  all  interference  in  the  affairs  of  government 
in  time  of  peace,  excepting  advisory,  taking  no  part  in  political  discus- 
sions, but  always  faithfully  performing  its  obligations  to  support  the 
cause  of  law  and  order,  and  to  defend  the  honor  of  the  country.  When 
the  Republic  was  in  peril  after  the  attack  on  Fort  Sumter,  the  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce  was  the  first  body  in  the  city  of  New  York  that  flew 
to  the  rescue,  as  we  shall  observe  hereafter. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  members  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  for 
the  purpose  of  organization  was  at  the  house  yet  standing  at  the  corner 
of  Pearl  and  Broad  streets.  It  was  afterward  Fraunce's  Tavern, 
where  General  Washington  parted  with  his  officers  at  the  close  of  the 
Revolution.  The  next  year  rooms  were  rented  in  the  Exchange,  at  the 
lower  end  of  Broad  Street.  Ten  years  later  the  Chamber  occupied 
rooms  at  the  Merchants'  Coffee- House,  corner  of  Wall  and  Water 
streets.  In  1817  it  was  located  in  the  old  Tontine  Coffee-Ilouse,  on 
the  next  corner  above.  From  the  completion  of  the  Merchants'1 
Exchange  in  Wall  Street,  in  1S27,  it  occupied  rooms  in  that  building 
until  driven  out  by  the  great  fire  in  1835.  From  that  time  until  185S 
its  meetings  were  held  in  the  directors'  room  of  the  Merchants'  Bank, 
in  Wall  Street,  and  since  then  it  has  occupied  its  present  quarters,  at 
No.  63  William  Street. 

In  1875  a  Court  of  Arbitration  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  was 
established  by  act  of  the  Legislature,  with  an  arbitrator  at  its  head, 
who  holds  office  during  good  behavior,  lie  has  power  to  administer 
oaths  and  affirmations  to  be  used  before  any  court  or  officer  ;  to  take 
proof  and  acknowledgment  of  any  charter  party,  marine  protest,  con- 
tract, or  other  written  instrument,  and  to  require  any  witness  to  appear 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


211 


and  testify  before  him,  or  the  Court  of  Arbitration,  or  before  the 
board  of  arbitrators.  1 1  is  salary  is  slo.ooo  a  year,  paid  out  of  the 
State  treasury,  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  providing  rooms  for  the  use 
of  the  Court  of  Arbitration.  Either  party  to  a  controversy  may, 
within  a  specified  time,  appoint  in  writing-  one  person  to  sit  with  the 
official  arbitrator  to  hear  and  determine  the  matter. 

Parties  having  cases  to  be  adjudicated  in  this  court — controversies  or 
matters  of  difference  arising  within  the  port  of  New  York,  or  relating 
to  a  subject  matter  situate  or  coming  within  that  port — may  voluntarily 
submit  the  same  to  this  Court  of  Arbitration,  by  written  submission  or 
by  personal  appearance  in  the  court  and  an  oral  submission.  This 
measure  works  with  success  in  avoiding  protracted  litigation  in  the 
ordinary  courts  of  law." 

A  Merchants'  Exchange — a  gathering-place  for  merchants  for  con- 
ference and  an  exchange  of  ideas  and  values — has  an  intimate  relation 
to  a  Chamber  of  Commerce,  in  its  chief  mission.  These  exchanges 
originated  in  the  commercial  cities  of  Italy,  Germany,  and  the  Nether- 
lands, and  were  introduced  into  England  by  Sir  Thomas  Gresham  at  a 
little  port  in  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century.  He  resided  some 
time  in  Antwerp,  and  he  chose  the  Bourse,  or  Merchants'  Exchange 
building,  of  that  city  as  his  model  for  the  great  London  Exchange 
edifice  which  he  erected. 

The  first  Merchants"  Exchange  in  New  York  City  was  in  a  building 
at  the  foot  of  Broad  Street  in  1752.  When  the  Tontine  Building  was 
completed,  at  the  corner  of  "Wall  and  Pearl  streets,  it  was  removed  to 
that  line  edifice,  which  was  erected  for  the  express  purpose  of  a  Mer- 
chants1 Exchange.  In  1825  a  fine  structure  of  white  marble  from 
Westchester  County,  for  a  Merchants'  Exchange,  was  begun  in  Wall 
Street,  below  William  Street,  and  was  completed  in  1827.  At  that 
time  it  was  the  finest  building  in  the  city  excepting  the  City  Hall,f 

*  The  officer.-!  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  for  1882-83  were  :  Samuel  D.  Babcock, 
president,  and  George  Wilson,  secretary. 

f  The  City  Hall  standing  in  the  Park  was  erected  early  in  this  century  — 1803  to  1808 
—at  a  cost  of  more  than  half  a  million  dollars.  When  completed  it  was  on  the  outskirts 
of  the  city.  It  is  built  on  three  sides  of  white  marble,  and  on  the  fourth  side  (the  north) 
of  brown  freestone.  It  is  in  the  Italian  style  of  architecture,  two  hundred  and  sixteen 
feet  long  and  one  hundred  and  five  feet  wide.  The  City  Hall  is  the  headquarters  of  the 
municipal  government.  Below  are  the  offices  of  the  mayor  and  clerk  of  the  common 
council,  the  common  council  chamber  and  other  city  offices,  and  the  library.  Above 
(second  story)  is  the  "  Governors' Room,"  containing  portraits  of  all  the  governors  of 
the  State,  of  the  mayors  of  the  city,  and  of  men  of  national  renown,  and  used  for  official 
receptions.  The  building  is  surmounted  by  a  cupola  containing  a  four-dial  clock,  which 
is  illuminated  at  night.    The  City  Library  is  in  the  east  wing  of  the  City  Hall. 


212 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


not  excepting  the  Masonic  Hall,  on  Broadway,  nearly  opposite  the  City 
Hospital.  It  had  a  front  of  115  feet  on  Wall  Street,  and  was  three 
stories  high  above  the  basement,  which  was  considerably  elevated.  It 
extended  through  to  Garden  Street,  150  feet.  The  designs  and  plan  of 
the  building  were  furnished  by  M.  E.  Thompson,  one  of  the  founders 
of  the  National  Academy  of  the  Arts  of  Design. 

The  first  and  second  stories  of  the  Exchange  comprised  one  order, 
which  was  the  Ionic,  in  imitation  of  the  Temple  of  Minerva  at  Priene, 
in  Ionia.  A  recessed  portico  about  forty  feet  in  width,  in  an  elliptical 
form,  was  introduced  in  front.  A  screen  of  four  large  columns  and  two 
anta?  extended  across  the  front  of  the  portico  nearly  on  a  line  with  the 
front  of  the  building.  These  columns  were  30  feet  high  and  3  feet  4 
inches  in  diameter  at  the  base.  The  shaft  of  each  column  was  com- 
posed of  a  single  block  of  marble.  They  supported  an  entablature, 
upon  which  rested  the  attic  or  third  story,  making  a  height  of  about  (50 
feet  from  the  ground, 

The  interior  of  the  Exchange  was  chaste  and  classic  in  architecture. 
The  building  was  surmounted  by  a  cupola  24  feet  in  diameter,  and 
about  60  feet  in  height  from  the  root  of  the  Exchange  to  the  top  of  the 
lantern  which  stood  on  this  superb  dome.  The  observatory  was  circu- 
lar, and  was  supported  externally  by  Ionic  columns.  From  this  observ- 
atory was  an  extensive  view  of  the  whole  city  and  the  rich  and  varied 
scenery  on  every  side.  This  tine  edifice,  with  a  marble  statue  by  Ball 
standing  in  the  centre  of  the  Exchange  room,  was  destroyed  by  the 
great  tire  in  New  York  in  December,  1835. 

The  Masonic  Hall  above  alluded  to  was,  next  to  the  Merchants'' 
Exchange,  the  finest  edifice  in  the  city  of  New  York  (excepting  the 
City  Hall)  in  1830.  It  was  designed  by  Hugh  Reinagle,  and  was  in 
the  pure  pointed  Gothic  style.  The  ornamentation  of  the  interior  was 
after  that  of  the  chapel  of  Henry  VI I.  The  corner-stone  of  the 
building  was  laid  on  St.  John's  Day  (the  summer  solstice),  June  24, 
1S20.  It  had  a  front  of  50  feet  on  Broadway,  and  a  depth  of  125  feet. 
The  entrance  hall,  at  the  centre  of  the  building,  was  in  feet  in  width, 
and  was  enriched  with  arches,  pendants,  open  friths  on  the  spandrels, 
and  a  beautiful  frieze  of  raised  Gothic  ornaments.  On  each  side  of 
this  hall  were  stores  in  front,  and  places  for  refreshments  in  the  rear. 

The  second  story  was  one  grand  Gothic  saloon,  90  feet  in  length,  47 
feet  in  width,  and  25  feet  in  height.  It  was  intended  for  concerts, 
balls,  and  public  meetings.  The  third  story  was  arranged  in  richly 
furnished  rooms  for  the  use  of  the  Masonic  fraternity.  A  writer  of 
that  day  describing  the  edifice  put  the  record  of  its  dimensions  in 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


213 


italics,  with  an  exclamation-point  at  the  end,  for  the  building  seemed 
of  marvellous  capacity  and  beauty.  Compared  with  scores  of  edifices 
seen  in  the  city  to-day,  this  Masonic  Hall  and  the  Merchants'  Exchange 
appear  insignificant  in  dimensions. 

The  front  of  the  Masonic  Hall  was  built  of  light  granite.  The  centre 
door  was  made  of  solid  oak,  with  carved  panels  and  massive  frame- 
work. The  central  window  was  a  splendid  piece  of  Gothic  architecture 
22  feet  in  height  and  10  feet  in  width.  The  sites  of  this  hall  and  of 
the  old  Tabernacle  near  by  are  now  covered  with  commercial  buildings. 

While  the  Masonic  Hall  was  a- building,  public  indignation  was 
vehemently  aroused  by  the  alleged  murder  of  William  Morgan,  in 
western  New  York,  by  the  Masons,  because  he  had  divulged  some  of 
their  secrets.  Shrewd  politicians  took  advantage  of  the  excitement, 
formed  a  political  Anti-Masonic  party,  and  endeavored  to  make  the 
Masonic  order  odious  in  the  public  mind.  They  succeeded  for  a  while, 
and  so  unpopular  became  the  very  name  of  Masons  that  as  a  matter  of 
policy  the  name  of  the  new  edifice  devoted  to  the  use  of  the  fraternity 
was  changed  to  Gothic  Hall. 

The  building  of  the  Merchants'  Exchange  and  the  Masonic  Hall 
marked  the  opening  of  a  new  era  in  domestic  architecture  in  New  York 
City,  both  in  style  and  materials.  These  structures  were  seeds  sown  in 
rich  soil,  and  have  produced  a  wonderful  harvest.  They  were  prophe- 
cies of  magnificence  and  of  extravagance  in  expenditure  in  buildings, 
when  dwelling-houses  should  be  superbly  palatial  in  size  and  decoration, 
and  mere  business  houses  should  vie  in  spaciousness  and  elegance  with 
the  municipal  halls  and  the  gathering-places  of  the  guilds  in  the  old 
commercial  cities  of  Europe.  That  prophecy  has  been  fulfilled  in  our 
day. 

In  less  than  a  decade  of  years  after  the  completion  of  the  structures 
just  mentioned  a  city  newspaper  remarked  :  "  New  York  is  undergoing 
a  wonderful  transformation,  especially  Broadway  ;  and  very  soon  it 
will  be  a  city  of  brick  instead  of  wooden  buildings."  Since  that  time 
—a  period  of  fifty  years — what  marvellous  transformations  have  taken 
place  in  the  great,  growing  city  !  It  is  now  largely  a  city  of  freestone 
dwellings  in  its  best  sections,  and  of  stone  and  iron  in  its  business 
streets.  The  rough  cobble-stones  that  covered  the  streets  have  <nven 
place  to  pavements  almost  as  smooth  as  tile-flooring,  and  almost  as  solid 
as  unseamed  rock.  Already  in  1830  the  transformation  had  begun, 
under  the  stimulating  power  of  enterprise,  prosperity,  and  rapidly  in- 
creasing wealth. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  first  decade  (1830-40)  the  commerce  of  the 


214 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


city  of  New  York  had  begun  to  feel  the  expansive  energies  of  new 
life.  There  was  marked  vigor  in  all  its  functions,  and  the  city  pre- 
sented valid  claims  to  the  dignified  title  of  the  Commercial  Metropolis 
of  the  Republic.  Its  foreign  commerce  (imports  and  exports)  in  1823 
was,  in  value,  about  $38,000,000  ;  in  1830  it  exceeded  §50,000,000. 

Down  to  the  year  1830,  and  even  somewhat  later,  some  of  the  lead- 
ing branches  of  trade  had  particular  localities  which  were  really 
business  centres  of  each  branch.  The  hatters  and  fur-dealers  were  in 
Water  Street,  where  damp  cellars  were  considered  desirable,  especially 
for  the  raw  materials  of  the  hatter's  wares.  Swift  &  Hurlburt,  who 
began  business  in  1835,  were  the  first  in  the  hatter's  trade  who  broke 
out  from  the  environs  of  "Water  Street  and  opened  an  establishment  on 
Broadway; 

The  stove-dealers  were  also  in  Water  Street,  and  that  is  still  distin- 
guished by  the  numerous  establishments  of  this  kind,  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  foot  of  Fulton  Street.  The  wholesale  druggists  Avere 
chiefly  in  Fletcher  Street,  which  extended  from  Pearl  Street  to  the  East 
River.  The  shipping  merchants  were  chiefly  in  South  Street,  below 
Peck  Slip.  The  wholesale  grocers  were  in  Front  Street.  The  leather- 
dealers  Avere  in  the  region  known  as  The  Swamp,  between  Beekman, 
Cliff,  Pearl,  William,  and  Frankfort  streets,  embracing  the  area  of  the 
old  Beekman  Swamp,  which  found  an  outlet  for  its  surplus  water  into 
the  East  River  below  Peck  Slip.  The  wholesale  dry -goods  merchants 
were  in  Pearl  Street,  below  Coenties  and  Peck  slips  ;  the  silk  mer- 
chants were  in  Hanover  Square,  and  the  merchants'  clothing  establish- 
ments were  also  in  Pearl  Street. 

South  Street  still  remains  the  headquarters  of  shipping  merchants 
and  the  shipping  business  of  all  kinds.  About  1830  a  few  large 
shippers  built  wharves  and  stores  on  Washington  Street,  then  the 
Hudson  River  front  of  the  lower  part  of  the  city  ;  but  the  river  was  so 
frequently  filled  with  ice  during  a  part  of  the  year  that  they  returned 
to  South  Street.  Among  those  who  thus  retraced  their  steps  and 
amassed  large1  fortunes  was  the  late  Jesse  Iloyt. 

Lent's  Basin,  between  Whitehall  Street  and  Coenties  Slip,  was  occu- 
pied by  the  largest  vessels  that  brought  Western  produce  from  Albany 
to  Hew  York.  The  larger  commission  merchants  were  on  the  south 
side  of  Coenties  Slip,  such  as  Suydam,  Sage  &  Co. ,  Samuel  Tooker  & 
Co.,  Peter  Nevins,  James  N\  Cobb,  and  others.  On  the  south  side  of 
the  slip  was  the  landing-place  of  the  Boston  packets.  These  packets 
carried  most  of  the  merchandise  from  the  West,  by  the  Eric  Canal,  for 
the  Boston  merchants  before  the  railroads  were  built.    "  The  '  Hub  ' 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


215 


has  put  on  a  good  many  airs  since  it  was  compelled  to  go  to  .New  York 
for  a  barrel  of  flour,"  wrote  an  old  New  York  merchant.* 

Old  Slip  and  ( .'off  ee- 1  louse  Slip  were  often  crowded  with  the  larger 
sailing  packets  from  Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  Richmond,  Charleston, 
and  Savannah,  before  ocean  steam  navigation  was  introduced.  Burling 
Slip  was  the  haven  for  transient  sailing  vessels. 

The  Swamp  continues  to  be  the  business  centre  of  the  leather 
trade  in  New  York,  and  now  embraces  about  one  hundred  business 
films.  These  merchants  are  towers  of  strength  in  the  business  and 
financial  world. 

The  tanning  of  leather  was  one  of  the  leading  industries  of  New 
York  so  early  as  the  period  of  the  Dutch  occupation  of  Manhattan 
Island.  For  generations  it  was  always  connected  with  the  business  of 
shoemaking.  The  first  tannery  and  shoe  manufactory  was  established 
by  Ooenradt  Ten  Eyok,  on  Broad  Street,  in  1653.  He  died  thei'e  in 
1680,  leaving  his  business  to  his  three  sons.  At  that  time  the  tanners 
made  up  their  own  leather  into  shoes. 

About  1661  Abel  Hardenbroeck  carried  on  the  same  business  at  the 
corner  of  Broad  Street  and  Exchange  Place.  lie  appears  to  have  been 
a  rowdy,  for  he  was  complained  of  and  brought  before  the  magistrate 
on  charges  of  "  creating  an  uproar  with  soldiers,"  breaking  windows, 
and  other  disturbances  of  the  peace.  He  appears  to  have  been  a  sort 
of  rogue  also  in  business,  for  he  was  charged  before  the  burgomaster  of 
New  Amsterdam  with  "  making  shoes  that  ripped  in  the  soles."  The 
punishment  awarded  for  the  last-named  offence  was  the  making  of  a 
new  pair  and  paying  several  guilders  to  the  burgomaster  who  repri- 
manded him.  Broad  Street  was  for  some  time  the  centre  of  the  tan- 
ning and  shoemaking  business  in  the  city. 

In  16(59  (after  the  first  English  occupation  of  the  city)  a  patent  was 
p  anted  to  A.  &  C.  Yan  Laer  for  a  mill  for  preparing  tanning-bark  for 
use.  It  was  not  loni?  after  this  that  the  business  was  driven  from  the 
city,  beyond  the  palisades  at  Wall  Street.  The  tanners  were  assigned 
sixteen  acres  of  land  for  their  pursuit,  extending  from  the  east  side  of 
(present)  Maiden  Lane  to  Ann  Street,  between  Gold  Street  and  Broad- 
way, to  the  site  of  the  New  York  Herald  publishing  house.  This  lot 
of  land  was  called  the  "Shoemakers'  Portion."  Their  tanning-pits 
were  near  the  junction  of  Maiden  Lane  and  William  Street.  One  of 
the  wealthiest  proprietors  of  the  Shoemakers'  Portion  gave  the  land  on 
which  the  North  Dutch  Church  was  erected,  on  the  corner  of  (present) 
Fulton  and  William  streets. 

*  John  W.  Degranw,  in  the  New  York  Evening  Post 


216 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


When  the  population  spread  beyond  the  cit}T  limits  of  New  Amster- 
dam, and  away  toward  the  (present)  City  Hall  Park,  the  tanners  were 
again  compelled  to  remove  their  works.  They  settled  along  the  line  of 
the  "  Collect"  or  "  Fresh  "Water  Pond,''  to  (present)  Canal  Street, 
where  they  continued  to  pursue  their  trade  until  after  the  Revolution, 
when  they  located  within  the  area  of  the  Swamp,  which  had  heen 
closed  up  and  several  streets  had  been  made  through  it.  Ferry  Street 
was  so  called  because  it  led  directly  to  the  Brooklyn  ferry. 

William  Beekman,  the  original  owner  of  the  Swamp,  came  to 
New  Netherlands  in  Ki-17,  in  the  employ  of  the  Dutch  West  India 
Company.  lie  was  an  enterprising  citizen,  became  wealthy,  and  built 
a  residence  on  the  edge  of  the  Swamp,  on  the  high  ground  near  the 
corner  of  Beekman  and  Cliff  streets,  where  St.  George's  Chapel  after- 
ward stood.  He  died  there  in  17<>7.  His  landed  property  there  was 
first  sold  in  lots  in  1717.  Balthasar  Bayard  owned  seven  acres  adjoin- 
ing Beekman's  land,  and  these  acres  constituted  a  part  of  the  Swam]). 
This  included  Frankfort  and  Vandewater  streets,  .and  extended  to 
Pear]  and  Pose  streets.  A  part  of  Bayard's  land  was  sold  in  17S3  to 
the  widow  of  Hendriek  van  de  Water.* 

A  hundred  years  ago  the  vicinity  of  the  Swamp  was  the  most  popu- 
lous part  of  the  city.  On  its  eastern  border,  Pearl  Street,  Franklin 
Square,  and  Cherry  Street  formed  the  extremely  fashionable  quarter 
of  New  York.  The  Waltons,  the  Franklins,  the  Pearsalls  and  other 
notable  merchants  dwelt  there.  In  the  residence  of  Walter  Franklin, 
the  fii-st  dwelling-place  of  President  Washington,  I)e  AVitt  Clinton  was 
married  to  that  Quaker  merchant's  daughter. 

After  the  Revolution  the  tanners  hegan  to  desert  the  vicinity  of  the 
Collect,  and  located  around  Jacob  and  Frankfort  streets,  in  the  Swamp. 
The  old  vats  at  the  Collect  were  left  open,  and  became  a  subject  of 
complaint  in  171*7  as  dangerous. 

From  the  time  of  its  first  occupation  by  tanners  and  manufacturers 
of  leather  until  now,  the  occupants  of  the  Swamp  have  grown  in 
wealth  and  business  and  social  influence.  The  Swamp  has  been  trans- 
formed from  a  place  of  manufactures  f  to  a  mail.  Within  the  last 
fifty  or  sixty  years  its  volume  of  business  has  enormously  increased. 
In  1S27  the  number  of  hides  of  sole  leather  received  in  New  T~ork 

*  For  these  facts  I  am  indebted  to  a  series  of  interesting  articles  in  the  Shoe  and  Leather 
Reporter,  vol.  xxiv.,  written  by  F.  W.  Xorcross. 

f  There  are,  perhaps,  persons  living  who  then  saw  no  house  in  the  space  bounded 
by  Jacob,  Gold,  Fern*,  and  Frankfort  streets  —  nothing  but  tan-yards  or  vats.  The 
houses  surrounding  these  vats  were  very  small,  and  all  built  of  wood. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


21? 


(almost  wholly  in  the  Swamp)  was  265,000  ;  in  1837,  665,000  ;  in 
1S47,  1,168,000  ;  in  1S57,  3,24S,000  ;  in  1867,  3,824,087  ;  in  1877, 
4,242,570,  and  in  1881,  5,457,417. 

Among  the  "  men  of  the  Swamp"  were  found  some  of  the  most 
valuable  citizens  of  the  metropolis  fifty  years  ago,  such  as  Gideon  Lee,* 
Israel  Corse,  f  Abraham  Bloodgood,:}:  David  Bryson,§  Jacob  Lorillard, 
Abraham  Polhemus,  Peter  McCartee,  Richard  Cunningham,  William 
Kumble,  Hugh  McCormick,    Shepherd  Knapp,   Jonathan  Thorne, J| 

*  Gideon  Lee  was  mayor  of  the  city  in  1833-34.  A  biographical  sketch  of  him  will  be 
found  on  a  subsequent  page. 

f  Israel  Corse  was  a  Friend  or  Quaker,  a  native  of  Chestertowu,  Maryland,  where  he 
was  born  in  17G9.  At  the  age  ot  seventeen  he  was  apprenticed  to  a  tanner  in  Camden, 
Delaware.  When  his  apprenticeship  expired  he  was  worth  just  seventy-five  cents.  On 
that  capital  he  began  business,  married  Lydia  Trotts,  a  farmer's  daughter,  who  brought 
him  quite  a  fortune,  at  that  day.  in  money,  and  a  greater  fortune  in  love,  prudence,  and 
industry.  Only  two  of  their  several  children  (Barney  and  Lydia)  survived.  Israel  lived 
in  Camden  until  ho  amassed  a  fortune  of  $10,000,  when  he  came  to  New  York  in  1803, 
where  his  wife  died.  He  married  again.  He  went  into  business  in  the  Swamp.  His 
son  Barney  married  a  daughter  of  Samuel  Leggett  ;  his  daughter  Lydia  married  Jona- 
than Thorne,  who,  on  the  retirement  of  Israel  from  business  in  1830,  became  a  proprietor 
of  the  concern,  with  his  brothei-in-law,  Barney  Corse.  Israel  lived  several  years  in  Van- 
dewater  Street.  He  afterward  occupied  a  house  in  East  Broadway,  where  he  died  in 
1842.  Israel  Corse  was  one  ot  the  devoted  band  who  succeeded  in  ridding  New  York 
City  of  the  cur?e  of  lotteries  and  made  the  selling  of  lottery  tickets  a  crime. 

|  Abraham  Bloodgood  was  a  remarkable  man.  He  died  in  1837.  Mr.  Bloodgood  was 
an  earnest  Bepnbliean  or  Democrat,  and  a  bright  light  in  Tammany  Hall.  At  one  time, 
when  there  was  a  split  in  the  Bucktail  party  in  the  city  on  some  local  question,  he  was 
the  leader  of  the  "Swamp  Clique"  in  opposition  to  the  "  North  River  Squad,"  as  the 
two  factions  were  respectively  called. 

§  David  Bryson,  another  remarkable  man,  was  a  native  of  Ireland.  He  came  to  America 
after  the  Irish  rebellion  in  1708,  with  Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  Dr.  Macneven,  and  other 
Irish  patriots.  He  began  business  in  the  Swamp  as  a  tanner  and  currier,  became 
wealthy,  and  sent  funds  to  Ireland  so  soon  as  prosperity  was  assured,  to  enable  his 
parents  to  come  to  America.  David  Bryson  was  a  wise  business  man,  and  those  who 
knew  him  best  loved  him  most.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Phoenix  Bank  and 
a  long  time,  and  until  his  death,  one  of  its  directors.  His  son  Peter  was  its  cashier 
at  one  time. 

I  Jonathan  Thorne  lived  in  good  health  of  body  and  mind  until  1884.  He  was 
born  in  the  town  of  Washington,  Duchess  County,  N.  Y.,  on  April  20,  1801.  His  great- 
grandfather, Isaac  Thorne,  came  from  Long  Island  and  settled  in  that  region  in  1720. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends  or  Quakers,  and  so  is  the  subject  of  this 
sketch. 

Jonathan  Thome's  father,  Samuel  Thorne,  began  life  as  a  merchant  in  Washington  in 
1794.  and  continued  in  that  pursuit  until  1814,  when  he  purchased  a  farm  not  far  away, 
and  which  now  constitutes  the  famous  Thorndale  estate.  He  desired  his  only  son,  Jona- 
than, to  be  a  farmer,  and  it  was  for  that  purpose  that  the  broad  acres  were  bought.  The 
young  man,  after  several  years'  experience,  felt  a  restless  desire  to  try  his  fortune  in 
business  in  New  York.    Thither  he  went  in  1820,  and  engaged  in  the  dry-goods  trade. 


218 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Thomas  Everett,  Morgan  L.  Smith,  James,  George,  and  Thomas 
Brooks,  Daniel  Tooker,  Peter  Bonnett,  Henry  Ottery,  and  others.  The 
late  Charles  M.  Leupp,  a  son-in  law  and  partner  in  business  of  Gideon 
Lee,  once  said  : 

"  The  Roman  mother,  Cornelia,  when  asked  to  display  her  jewels, 
sent  for  her  sons  and  pointed  to  them.  So  can  we  to  these  [hide  and 
Leather]  fathers,  and  claim  them  as  our  jewels.  Let  us  cherish  their 
example,  and  emulate  their  noble  qualities,  so  that  hereafter  our  suc- 
cessors may,  in  like  manner,  be  not  ashamed  of  any  of  us,  but  be  proud 
to  exclaim,  '  He,  too,  was  a  Swamper."  " 

At  the  end  of  three  years  Lis  father,  needing  his  assistance  on  the  farm,  induced  Jona- 
than to  abandon  his  business  in  the  city  and  join  him.  The  young  merchant  of  twenty- 
three  did  not  return  alone,  for  he  had  married  tbe  amiable  Lydia,  daughter  of  Israel 
(  lone.  She  cheerfully  left  the  city  for  a  home  in  the  country  for  his  sake.  But  her  hus- 
band yearned  for  the  greater  activity  of  mercantile  life,  with  all  its  possibilities  for  larger 
pecuniary  gain  than  that  of  fanning,  and  in  March,  18:10,  they  returned  to  New  York. 
His  father-in-law,  then  grown  aged  and  wealthy,  desired  to  retire  from  business,  and 
offered  to  transfer  it  to  young  Thorne.  The  latter  hesitated,  for  he  was  ignorant  of 
tanning,  and  indeed  of  other  parts  of  the  business.  His  brother-in-law,  Barney  Corse, 
who  was  his  father's  business  partner,  finally  induced  Thorne  to  join  hjsn.  So  it  was 
that  Mr.  Thorne  entered  upon  the  business  of  a  manufacturer  of  leather  and  a  leather 
merchant  in  1830,  and  continued  it  without  interruption  until  1880,  a  period  of  fifty 
years.    For  forty  years  he  was  at  the  head  of  the  largest  house  in  the  business. 

The  new  firm  went  under  the  old  name  of  "  Israel  Corse  &  Son"  until  1832,  when  Mr. 
Thome  bought  the  interest  of  his  brother  in-law,  and  for  the  first  time  put  up  his  own 
name  over  the  door.  After  that  there  were  several  changes  in  the  composition  of  the 
firm.    For  about  fifteen  years  his  son  Edwin  (now  of  Thorndale)  was  a  member. 

No  merchant  ever  enjoyed  a  better  rejiutation  for  honor  and  probity  than  Jonathan 
Thorne.  He  made  it  a  rule  from  the  beginning  to  win  the  confidence  of  his  customers 
in  his  integrity.  There  are  three  kinds  of  leather— perfect  sides,  slightly  damaged  sides, 
■aid  badly  damaged  side  s.  He  always  instructed  his  men  when  assorting  leather  to  put 
with  the  badly  damaged  sides  the  slightly  damaged  ones.  This  was  his  invariable  habit. 
Very  soon  he  gained  a  reputation  of  immense  value  to  him.  His  "  damaged  "  leather, 
containing  so  much  slightly  injured  leather,  always  commanded  a  higher  price  than 
damaged  leather  in  general,  and  secured  for  him  an  enviable  reputation.  He  had  the 
satisfaction  of  an  approving  conscience  and  of  illustrating  the  truth  of  the  maxim  that 
"  honesty  is  the  best  policy." 

Mr.  Thorne  came  into  the  possession  of  tbe  estate  of  Thorndale  on  the  death  of  his 
father,  in  1840.  He  made  it  his  summer  residence.  Observing  the  inferiority  of  the 
live-stock  even  in  the  fine  farming  region  of  Duchess  County,  he  determined  to  give 
his  country  the  benefit  of  an  importation  of  England's  finest  Shorthorn  or  Durham 
cattle.  He  paid  as  high  as  $5000  for  a  single  animal,  but  found  the  venture  finally 
profitable.  In  time  the  Thorndale  stock  became  famous  among  breeders  on  both  sides 
of  the  Atlantic,  and  animals  were  exported  from  it  to  England. 

Mr.  Thorne  left  business  with  an  ample  fortune,  and  lives  in  elegant  retirement  in 
Fifth  Avenue,  New  York.  His  wife  died  in  the  city  of  London,  England,  in  1872,  and  in 
187i  he  married  Mrs.  Merritt,  daughter  of  George  S.  Fox. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


219 


About  the  year  1830  the  methods  of  mercantile  life  in  New  York 
were  rapidly  changing-.  Up  to  about  that  period  railroads  for  travel 
were  unknown  in  America.  A  visit  of  a  country  merchant  to  New 
York  Avas  a  marked  event  in  his  life.  lie  generally  went  to  the  city 
twice  a  year  (fall  and  spring)  to  purchase  goods.  An  advertisement  of 
one  of  these  merchants  in  a  Poughkeepsie  newspaper,  in  the  fall  of 
1821,  reads  : 

"  I  have  been  in  New  York  a  fortnight  making  a  careful  selection  of 
goods,  and  I  now  offer  for  sale,  at  a  moderate  profit,  a  large  assortment 
of  articles  suitable  for  the  fall  and  winter. " 

The  wholesale  dry-goods  merchants,  as  we  have  observed,  were  then 
chiefly  to  be  found  in  Pearl  Street.  The  families  of  many  of  them 
lived  over  their  stores  and  boarded  the  clerks,  and  apartments  not  so 
occupied  were  boarding-houses.  These  were  exclusively  for  country 
merchants.  Those  who  traded  in  rural  districts  kept  a  variety  store — 
dry  goods,  groceries,  hardware,  crockery,  medicines,  etc.  They 
remained  several  days  in  the  city,  buying  their  various  goods,  and  it 
was  an  object  of  jobbers  to  have  one  of  their  best  salesmen  board  at  a 
large  lodging-house  for  country  merchants. 

Merchants'  clerks  in  those  days  performed  manual  services  unknown 
to  their  class  in  1883.  There  were  very  few  carts  then  used  by  the 
dry-goods  merchants.  Most  of  their  limited  business  in  city  trans- 
portation was  done  by  street  porters,  with  hand-carts  and  large  wheel- 
barrows. They  stood  at  street  corners  ready  to  t  ke  or  go  for  a  load. 
They  were  regularly  licensed,  and  wore  a  brass  plate  with  their  number 
on  the  register  engraved  upon  it.  Their  charges  for  any  distance  below 
Chambers  Street  was  one  shilling  (12£  cents)  ;  for  any  distance  above 
Chambers  Street,  a  pistareen  (18|  cents).  Such  heavy  trucks  as  are 
now  seen  were  never  heard  of.  "  When  our  employer  would  purchase 
a  lot  of  goods  at  auction,"  wrote  the  late  "William  E.  Dodge  concerning 
his  experience  as  a  dry -goods  clerk,  "  it  was  our  business  to  go  to  the 
auction-rooms  and  compare  them  with  the  bill,  and  if  two  of  us  could 
carry  them  home  Ave  did  so,  as  it  would  saAre  the  shilling  porterage. 
I  remember  that  while  in  this  store  I  carried  bundles  of  goods  up 
Broadway  to  Greenwich  Village,  near  what  are  noAv  Seventh  and 
Eighth  avenues  and  Fourth  to  Tenth  Street.''* 

*  William  E.  Dodge  was  an  eminent  merchant  and  philanthropist.  He  was  born  in 
Hartford,  Conn.,  September  4.  1805  :  went  to  New  York  in  1818,  and  became  a  clerk  in  a 
wholesale  dry-goods  store.  In  1827  he  began  business  for  himself  in  the  same  line. 
The  next  year  he  married  Melissa,  a  daughter  of  Anson  G.  Phelps,  a  dealer  in  metals. 
They  celebrated  their  golden  wedding  June  24,  1878,  at  their  country-seat  in  Tarrytown- 


220 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


The  retail  trade  was  mostly  in  William  Street  and  Maiden  Lane, 
excepting  a  few  fashionable  houses  on  Broadway.  The  cheap  retail 
stores  were  in  upper  Pearl  and  Chatham  streets.  The  trade  was 
mostly  divided  by  sections,  some  selling  almost  entirely  to  Southern 
merchants,  others  to  Northern  and  AVestern  merchants,  and  others  to 
Eastern  and  Long  Island  merchants.  A  "  jobber"  before  1830  was  con- 
sidered sound  and  had  good  credit  if  he  had  invested  in  business 

sl5, ooi)  to  s-_'n.<          Probably  not  over  a  half  dozen  persona  in  New 

York  sold  goods  to  the  value  of  over  §1,000,000  a  year  ;  now  there 
are  some  who  sell  a  million  a  week.* 

on  the-Hudson,  where  their  seven  children,  all  sons,  were  present.  In  1833  Mr.  Dodge 
sold  out  his  dry-goods  business  find  became  a  partner  with  his  father-in  law,  under  the 
firm  name  of  Phelps,  Dodge  <fc  Co.  He  accumulated  a  large  fortune,  continuing  in  busi- 
ness until  his  death,  February  9,  1883. 

Mr.  Dodge  was  singularly  active  in  various  business  enterprises  and  in  religious  and 
philanthropic  movements.  For  twelve  years  he  was  a  director  of  the  Erie  Railway  Com- 
pany ;  was  president  of  the  Houston  and  Texas  Railroad,  and  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
Central  Railroad  of  New  Jersey  and  of  the  Delaware,  Lackawanna  and  Western  Railroad. 
He  was  a  director  in  other  railroad  companies,  in  banks,  and  in  insurance,  trust,  and 
telegraph  companies.  He  was  a  member  of  the  famous  Peace  Congress  at  Washington  in 
1801,  and  of  the  Indian  Commission  appointed  by  President  Grant.  Mr.  Dodge  was  a 
member  of  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress,  in  which  he  served  on  the  Committee  on  Foreign 
Affairs.  In  1800  he  was  a  delegate  to  the  Loyal  Convention  held  in  Philadelphia.  He 
was  also  for  many  years  an  active  member  of  the  Lnion  League  Club.  In  185j  he 
became  a  member  of  the  New  York  Chamber  of  Commerce,  was  its  vice-president  focr 
years,  elected  president  in  1807,  and  re-elected  for  three  successive  terms. 

He  was  connected  with  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  was  an  elder  and  for  twenty 
years  a  Sa  I  >bat  h-sch  ool superintendent.  In  his  early  days  he  assisted  in  the  organization 
of  the  Young  Men's  Bible  Society  of  New  York,  and  was  at  his  death  a  manager  of  the 
American  Bible  Society.  He  was  deeply  interested  in  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tions, in  foreign  missions,  in  the  cause  of  temperance,  and  in  various  organizations  for 
the  promotion  of  religion  and  morality,  and  in  the  physical  comfort  of  his  fellow-men. 
He  was  president  of  the  American  Branch  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance,  of  the  National 
Temperance  Society,  and  of  the  Christian  Home  for  Intemperate  Men,  and  was  largely 
instrumental  in  providing  a  similar  institution  for  women.  He  was  a  director  of  the 
Union  Theological  Seminary,  and  did  much  for  educational  institutions,  especially,  of 
late  years,  among  the  freedmen.  A  strict  Sabbatarian,  he  left  the  direction  of  the 
Central  Railroad  of  New  Jersey  because  they  allowed  trains  to  run  on  Sunday. 

Mr.  Dodge's  hand  was  always  open,  and  his  charities  are  said  to  have  amounted  an- 
nually to  $100,000.    His  remains  were  buried  in  the  family  vault  iuWoodlawn  Cemetery. 

*  Address  by  William  E.  Dodge,  at  Association  Hull,  April  27,  1880. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


THE  various  industrial  pursuits  in  Xew  York  about  1S30  were 
stimulated  by  the  increased  activity  in  commercial  business.  The 
shipbuilding  interest  especially  felt  the  thrill  of  the  new  life.  The  ship- 
yards, as  the  places  of  business  of  the  shipbuilders  were  called,  were 
clustered  on  the  shores  of  the  East  River,  from  Catharine  Street  to 
Thirteenth  Street. 

Chief  among  the  shipbuilders  at  that  time  was  Christian  Bergh, 
father  of  Henry  Bergh  the  philanthropist,  whose  yard  was  near  the 
(present)  Grand  Street  ferry.  He  was  a  native  of  Rhinebeck,  Duchess 
County,  N.  Y.,  where  he  was  born,  in  April,  1763.  His  ancestors  had 
come  to  America  from  Germany  in  the  seventeenth  century.  Having 
learned  the  business  of  marine  architecture  thoroughly,  and  being  very 
expert  and  very  honest,  he  never  lacked  employment  for  a  day. 

The  United  States  Government  appointed  him  to  superintend  the 
construction  of  the  frigate  President,  a  -14-gun  ship  built  at  Xew  York, 
and  at  the  beginning  of  the  second  war  for  independence  (1S12-15)  he 
was  sent  to  Oswego,  on  Lake  Ontario,  where,  with  Henry  Eckford,  he 
built  the  brig  Oneida,  under  the  direction  of  Lieutenant  Melancthon 
"Woolsey,  of  the  United  States  Navy.  After  the  war  he  established  a 
shipyard  at  the  foot  of  Scammel  Street,  on  the  East  River,  where  he 
built  packet-ships  for  American  lines  for  European  ports.  There  for 
many  years  Mr.  Bergh's  tall  and  commanding  figure  might  be  seen,  in 
blue  coat  and  trousers  and  white  neckcloth.  He  was  very  popular  be- 
cause of  his  suavity  of  manner  and  inflexible  integrity. 

Christian  Bergh  was  a  bright  light  in  Tammany  Hall,  and  often  pre- 
sided with  dignity  at  the  meetings  of  the  sachems,  but  persistently 
refused  to  take  a  public  office  of  any  kind.  His  dislike  of  debt  Avas 
almost  a  passion  with  him.  In  his  last  illness  he  became  impressed 
with  the  idea  that  his  physician's  bilkehad  not  been  paid.  He  desired 
his  son  Henry  to  fill  out  a  check.  .  On  being  reminded  that  it  was  not 
yet  presented  nor  yet  due,  he  nevertheless  persisted,  and  to  quiet  him  a 
check  was  filled  out,  and  with  trembling  band  he  signed  it.  A  few 
days  afterw  ard  the  famous  shipbuilder  and  honest  citizen  died  (June  2±, 


222 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YOKK  CITY. 


1S43),  at  the  age  of  eighty  years.  Christian  Bergh  was  the  first  ship- 
builder who  had  the  courage,  the  humanity,  and  the  common -sense  to 
employ  colored  men  in  his  yard. 

Below  Bergh's  shipyard  was  that  of  Thorn  &  Williams,  at  the  foot 
of  Montgomeiy  Sti'eet  ;  of  Carpenter  &  Bishop,  near  the  foot  of 
Clinton  Street.  Adjoining  the  latter  were  the  yards  of  Ficket  & 
Thomas  ;  of  Morgan  &z  Son,  at  the  foot  of  Rutgers  Street,  and  one  or 
two  others  below.  Above  Bergh  were  the  yards  of  Sneedon  &  Law- 
rence, near  the  foot  of  Corlears  Street  ;  Samuel  Barnard's,  near  the 
foot  of  Grand  Street  ;  Brown  tfc  Bell's,  from  Stanton  to  Houston 
Street  (a  part  of  which  Henry  Eckford  had  formerly  occupied,  and  part 
by  Adam  and  Xoah  Brown)  ;  Smith  &  Dimon's,  from  Fourth  to  Fifth 
Street  ;  Webb  &  Allen's,  from  Fifth  to  Seventh  Street  ;  Bishop  6c 
Simonson's,  from  Seventh  to  Eighth  Street,  and  higher  up  were  the 
yards  of  Steers  Brotbers,  William  II.  Brown,  and  Thomas  Collyer. 
There  were  smaller  establishments,  the  whole  numbering  more  than 
thirty. 

The  shore  of  the  East  River  above  the  northernmost  yard,  at  the 
foot  of  Thirteenth  Street,  presented  a  fine  sandy  beach,  where  and  at 
the  foot  of  Corlears  Street  the  Baptists  immersed  their  converts  in  the 
limpid  water,  and  where,  in  summer  twilight,  groups  of  men  and  boys, 
women  and  girls,  at  a  place  called  Dandy  Point,  might  have  been  seen 
en  joying  salt-water  baths.  They  often  arrived  in  big  wagons,  holding 
more  than  a  dozen  of  both  sexes,  who  at  different  places,  the  men  at 
one  siK)t  the  women  at  another,  changed  good  garments  for  old  ones, 
without  the  convenience  of  bathing-houses.  Near  by  wasli  house  for 
plain  refreshments,  kept  by  a  Scotchman  named  Gibson — "  Sandy 
Gibson."  Williamsburgh,  opposite,  was  then  a  straggling  hamlet  of 
cottages,  with  orchards  and  gardens. 

Two  of  tbe  shipbuilders  here  mentioned  were  apprentices  to  Henry 
Eckford,  who  in  the  early  part  of  this  century  was  the  most  eminent 
marine  architect  in  the  country.  He  was  a  native  of  Scotland,  who 
came  to  New  York  in  1796,  when  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age. 
He  and  Bergh  became  acquainted  at  an  early  day,  and  were  ever  after- 
ward fast  friends.  They  lived  near  each  other,  Bergh  on  the  north- 
east corner  of  Scammel  and  Water  streets,  and  Eckford  in  Water  Street. 
Their  chief  happiness  outside  their  homes  was  in  visiting  each  other. 
On  a  hill  near  by  Miss  MacLaughlin  kept  a  dairy  farm,  and  supplied 
the  shipbuilders  with  milk.  Two  of  Eckford's  apprentices,  Thomas 
Megson  and  William  Bennett,  are  yet  living  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

Eckford  established  a  shipyard  near  the  Brooklyn  Navy- Yard,  in 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


223 


1801,  and  soon  acquired  an  excellent  reputation.  He  built  a  ship  cf 
1100  tons  for  John  Jacob  Astor,  and  was  employed  by  the  United 
States  Government  in  building-  vessels  for  the  navy  during  the  war  of 
1812-15.  After  the  war  he  was  made  superintendent  of  the  Brooklyn 
Navy- Yard.  He  was  a  faithful  public  officer.  One  day  he  found  the 
blacksmith  of  the  yard  shoeing  the  commodore's  horses.  He  ordered 
them  to  be  immediately  removed,  saying,  "  The  business  of  this  shop 
is  to  repair  government  vessels,  not  to  shoe  commodore's  horses."' 

Eckford  built  the  steamship  Robert  Fulton,  which  in  1822  made  the 
first  successful  ocean  voyage,  by  steam,  to  New  Orleans  and  Havana. 
He  also  built  six  ships  of  the  line  for  the  government,  made  a  plan  for 
the  reorganization  of  the  navy,  at  the  request  of  President  Jackson,  and 
in  1S31  constructed  a  ship  of  war  for  the  Sultan  of  Turkey.  He  entered 
the  service  of  the  Turkish  Government  as  naval  constructor  at  Con- 
stantinople, but  died  within  a  year  after  his  arrival  there — November 
12,  1S32. 

Among  the  eminent  shipbuilders  of  that  day  who  survived  to  the 
period  of  the  present  generation  may  be  named  Isaac  Webb,  the  great 
builder  of  packet-ships,  born  in  Stamford,  Connecticut,  in  17i>4,  and 
died  in  1843  ;  Stephen  Smith,  a  native  of  the  same  town  ;  David 
Brown,  who  died  in  1852  ;  Jacob  Bell,  and  Jacob  A.  Westervelt,  a  native 
of  New  Jersey,  the  son  of  a  shipbuilder,  an  apprentice  with  Bergh, 
and  afterward  his  partner  in  business,  and  engaged  in  building  Havre 
and  London  packets  befoi'e  the  year  1837.  He  was  mayor  of  the  city 
of  New  York  in  1852,  and  immediately  afterward  built  the  United 
States  steam-frigate  Brooklyn. 

Another  of  the  old  shipbuilders  of  New  York  is  John  Inglis,  born  in 
1808,  and  became  an  apprentice  to  Stephen  Smith.  He  built  the 
steamships  Milirauh-e  and  Red  Jacket  on  Lake  Erie  in  1837,  and  on  his 
return  to  New  York  established  an  immense  shipyard  at  the  foot  of 
East  Fourth  Street,  where  he  sometimes  employed  between  -400  and 
500  men.  His  specialty  was  steamship  building.  He  constructed  gov- 
ernment vessels  during  the  Civil  War.  He  also  built  river  and  Sound 
steamers  of  great  speed.  Before  1866  he  had  built  50  large  steam  ves- 
sels.* The  later  shipbuilders  and  the  business  of  shipbuilding  will  be 
considered  hereafter.  About  the  year  1844  began  the  most  important 
era  in  shipbuilding. f 

*  A  bronze  medal  -was  awarded  to  John  Inglis  &  Sons,  by  the  American  Institute  in 
1863,  for  a  model  of  the  revenue  cutter  Ashuelol,  which  was  lost  in  the  East  Indies  in  1882. 

f  The  labors  and  the  wages  of  workmen  in  the  shipyards  (and  indeed  everywhere  else) 
fifty  years  ago  and  now  appear  in  strong  contrast.    The  mechanic  then  worked  from 


224 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


The  manufactures  in  the  city  of  New  York  at  the  beginning  of  this 
decade  were  neither  extensive  nor  various,  but  very  soon  circumstances 
produced  a  rapid  increase  in  the  kinds  and  products  of  the  mechanic 
arts.  The  people  of  our  country  depended  largely  upon  Europe  for  the 
products  of  the  loom  and  the  forge,  for  foreign  labor  was  so  low  that 
American  mechanics  could  not  profitably  compete  with  it. 

To  remedy  this  disability  tariffs  on  foreign  goods  were  established. 
So  early  as  1 8 1 « >  Henry  Clay  and  John  C.  Calhoun  were  associated  in 
establishing  the  "American  system" — that  is,  stringent  tariffs  for  the 
protection  of  American  manufacturers  of  every  kind.  The  tariff  of 
1810  did  not  effect  much  in  the  way  of  encouraging  our  manufacturers, 
neither  did  a  more  stringent  tariff  law  in  1824,  but  that  of  1827-28  was 
effectual,  and  greatly  stimulated  the  growth  of  the  mechanic  arts  and 
textile  manufactures.  It  did  more  :  it  awakened  the  hostility  of  the 
OOtton-growers  of  the  South,  and  led  to  the  intense  and  dangerous 
political  disturbance  known  in  history  as  the  Nullification  movement  in 
South  Carolina. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  decade  there  were  in  the  city  of  New  York 
a  score  or  more  of  incorporated  manufacturing  companies,  organized 
under  a  State  law  of  1811,  allowing  any  "  five  or  more  persons"  to 
form  a  company  for  the  manufacture  of  certain  specified  articles.  The 
principal  of  these  companies  were  : 

The  Eagle  Manufacturing  Company,  for  the  manufacture  of  cotton, 
woollen  and  linen  goods  ;  the  Copper  Manufacturing  Company,  for  the 
manufacture  of  copper  and  brass  ;  the  Patent  Oil  Company,  for  press- 
ing and  straining  oil  ;  the  New  York  Gas-light  Company,  for  manu- 
facturing illuminating  gas  ;  the  New  York  Laboratory  Association,  for 
the  manufacture  of  white  and  red  lead  and  other  paints  ;  the  New 
York  Company,  for  the  same  purpose  ;  the  New  York  Steel  Company, 
Steam  Saw-mill  Company,  the  Linen  Company,  the  New  York  Manu- 
facturing Company,  the  New  York  Sugar  Refining  Company,  and  the 
New  York  Chemical  Company.  There  were  also  two  chartered  coal 
companies,  "for  the  purpose  of  exploring  and  working  mines  of  coal 
and  other  valuable  minerals,  and  for  delivering  at  New  York  coal  for 

sunrise  to  sunset,  or  from  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  until  half  past  seven  o'clock  in 
the  evening,  for  $1.25  a  day.  He  was  allowed  an  hour  for  breakfast  and  two  hours  for 
dinner.  Then  in  the  shipyards  the  heaviest  timbers,  now  handled  by  steam  or  horse 
power,  were  carried  on  the  shoulders  of  men  ;  and  many  hours  were  consumed  in  sawing 
a  stick  of  live  oak  by  hand,  one  workman  standing  in  a  ditch  below,  his  face  protected 
from  the  sawdust  by  a  veil,  while  now  a  circular  saw  driven  by  steam  or  horse  power 
would  do  the  same  work  in  about  one  minute. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


225 


fuel,  from  the  Ohio  River,"  etc.  These  coal  companies  had  been 
organized  and  chartered  in  1814,  when  anthracite  first  became  publicly 
known  as  fuel.  It  was  not  generally  introduced  into  the  city  of  New 
York  before  1825. 

About  1882  English  mechanics,  disheartened  by  k'  dull  times"  at  home 
and  attracted  by  "  flush  times"  in  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  began 
to  come  over  in  quite  large  numbers.  They  introduced  new  branches 
of  mechanical  business.  These  took  permanent  root.  Inventive  genius 
was  stimulated  in  a  remarkable  degree,  and  from  small  beginnings  fifty 
years  ago  New  York  has  become  the  leading  manufacturing  city  in  the 
Republic.  In  1880  the  number  of  its  manufacturing  establishments 
was  Ll,339,  employing  over  $181,000,000  of  capital,  and  producing  in 
that  year  goods  of  the  value  of  $472,926,437. 

The  increase  in  the  commercial  and  manufacturing  operations  in  the 
city  at  that  time  demanded  an  increase  of  banking  facilities  for  furnish- 
ing currency  and  aiding  a  universal  credit  system.  There  were  then 
sixteen  banks  of  issue  and  deposit  in  the  city  of  New  York,  including 
a  branch  of  the  United  States  Bank,  with  an  aggregate  capital  of 
$17,640,000.  They  were  :  The  U.  S.  Branch  Bank,  $2,500,000  ;.  Bank 
of  New  York,  incorporated  in  IT'.U,  $1,000,000  ;  Manhattan  Bank, 
incorporated  in  1799,  $2,050,000  ;  Merchants'  Bank,  incorporated  in 
1S03,  $1,400,000  ;  Mechanics'  Bank,  incorporated  in  1810,  $1,500,000  ; 
Union  Bank,  incorporated  in  1811,  $1,000,000  ;  Bank  of  America, 
chartered  in  1812,  §2,000,000  ;  City  Bank,  incorporated  in  1812, 
$1,250,000  ;  Phoenix  Bank,  chartered  in  1812,  $500,000  ;  Franklin 
Bank,  incorporated  in  1818,  $500,000  ;  North  River  Bank,  incorpo- 
rated in  1821,  $500,000  ;  Tradesmen's  Bank,  chartered  in  1823, 
$600,000  ;  Chemical  Bank,  incorporated  in  1824,  $500,000  ;  Fulton 
Bank,  incorporated  in  1824,  $500,000  ;  Delaware  and  Hudson  Canal 
Company,  incorporated  in  1825,  $1,000,000,  of  which  $500,000  was 
employed  in  banking  ;  and  the  New  York  Dry  Dock  Company,  char- 
tered in  1 825,  87o0,000.    Eleven  of  these  banks  are  in  existence  in  1883. 

There  was  then  only  one  savings  bank  in  the  city,  located  in  Cham- 
bers Street,  and  open  only  on  Monday  afternoons  from  four  to  six 
o'clock,  and  on  Saturday  afternoons  from  four  to  seven  o'clock  ;  on 
quarter  days,  from  eleven  to  one  o'clock.  The  genesis  of  this  first  sav- 
ings bank  in  the  city  of  New  York  is  interesting.  It  was  the  offspring 
of  the  active  brain  and  benevolent  nature  of  John  Pintard. 

Pintard  called  a  meeting  of  a  few  gentlemen  at  the  City  Hotel,  on 
November  29,  1S1G.  The  philanthropist,  Thomas  Eddy,  was  called  to 
the  chair,  and  J.  II.  Coggeshall  was  chosen  secretary.    Pintard  had 


226 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


prepared  the  following  resolution  before  he  went  to  the  meeting,  which 
was  offered  by  John  Griscom.  and  unanimously  adopted  : 

uHes0$9ed,  That  it  is  expedient  to  establish  a  savings  bank  in  New 
York  City." 

Pintard  had  also  prepared  a  constitution.  It  was  offered  by  Zacha- 
riah  Lewis,  and  adopted.  The  association  was  organized  by  the  choice 
of  twenty-eight  dh*eetors,  with  De  Witt  Clinton  at  their  head.  The 
officers  chosen  were  William  Bayard,  president  :  Xoah  Brown,  Thomas 
II.  Smith,  and  Thomas  C.  Taylor,  vice-presidents.* 

The  institution  did  not  go  into  operation  until  Saturday  evening, 
•Inly  3,  1  si t»,  at  six  o'clock,  in  a  basement  room  in  Chambers  Street. 
The  office  of  deposit  was  kept  open  that  evening  until  nine  o'clock, 
when  the  sum  of  $2^»7  had  been  received  from  eighty-two  depositors. 
The  largest  deposit  was  K3oo,  the  smallest  *2.+  Within  the  following 
six  months  there  had  been  received  $153,378,  from  1527  depositors. 

This  first  Bank  for  Savings,  the  firstorganized  in  the  city  of  Xew 
York,  is  yet  a  flourishing  institution,  occupying  an  elegant  banking- 
house  built  of  white  marble,  in  Bleecker  Street.  In  1SS3  there  were 
twenty-three  savings  banks  in  the  city  of  Xew  York.  The  original 
Bank  for  Savings,  established  in  1S19,  had  received,  during  63£  years, 
from  490,541  depositors,  the  sum  of  $102,032,515  ;  to  which  add 
interest  up  to  January  1.  lss3,  $29,501,761,  making  an  aggregate  of 
sim,  53-1,277.+ 

When  this  savings  bank  was  firmly  established,  Mr.  Pintard,  in  pur- 
suance of  his  usual  custom  when  he  had  achieved  a  great  success,  with- 
drew, but  in  18$8  he  accepted  the  presidency  of  it,  and  held  that 
office  until  1841,  when  he  was  eighty-one  years  old,  and  was  growing 
blind.  It  Ins  been  well  said,  "  There  never  was  a  man  in  the  city  who 
could  start  great  measures  as  John  Pintard  could.    He  could  indite  a 

*  The  following  named  gentlemen  were  chosen  directors  :  De  Witt  Clinton,  Archibald 
Gracie,  Cadwallader  D.  Coiden,  William  Few,  John  Griscom,  Jeremiah  Thompson,  Duncan 
P.  Campbell,  James  Eastbnrn,  John  Pintard,  J.  H.  Coggeshall,  Jonas  Mapes,  Brockholst 
Livingston,  Richard  Varick,  Thomas  Eddy,  Peter  A.  Jay,  J.  Murray,  Jr.,  John  Slidell, 
Andrew  Morris,  Gilbert  Aspinwall,  Zachariah  Lewis,  Thomas  Buckley,  Xajah  Taylor, 
Francis  B.  Winthr.ip,  William  Wilson. 

■f  John  Pintard,  John  E.  Hyde,  Duncan  P.  Campbell,  William  Bayard,  Colonel  William 
Few.  James  Eastburn.  Thomas  Eddy,  Zachariah  Lewis,  John  Mason,  Jacob  Sherrel, 
William  Wilson,  and  Jeremiah  Thompson  were  present  that  evening. 

J  The  officers  of  this  Bank  for  Savings  for  1883  were  :  Robert  Lenox  Kennedy,  presi- 
dent :  Wyllis  Blackstone  and  Benjamin  H.  Field,  vice-presidents  ;  George  Cabot  Ward, 
secretary  :  David  Olyphant,  treasurer  ;  William  G.  White,  comptroller,  and  James 
Knowles,  accountant  at  the  bank. 


BA*3nr  Geo  E.nTins, TTbwToi 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


227 


handbill  that  would  inflame  the  minds  of  the  people  for  any  good 
work.  He  could  call  a  meeting  with  the  pen  of  a  poet,  and  before  the 
people  met  he  would  have  arranged  the  doings  for  a  perfect  success." 

At  the  time  we  are  considering  there  were  ten  marine-insurance 
companies  and  twenty-eight  fire-insurance  companies  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  with  the  agencies  of  four  outside  companies— namely,  the 
Duchess  and  the  Orange  County,  the  Western  (at  Buffalo),  and  the 
Utica  fire-insurance  companies. 

The  marine-insurance  companies  were  :  the  New  York,  the  Ocean, 
the  American,  the  Pacific,  the  Union,  the  Atlantic,  the  Mohawk  (for 
marine,  canal,  lake,  and  river  insurance),  the  Neptune,  and  the  Niagara, 
With  an  aggregate  capital  of  $4,600,000. 

The  fire-insurance  companies  were  :  the  Mutual,  the  Washington, 
the  Eagle,  the  Hope,  the  Globe,  the  Franklin,  the  Merchants',  the 
Mercantile,  the  Mechanics',  the  Manhattan,  the  Fulton,  the  Farmers', 
the  North  River,  the  Chatham,  the  Equitable,  the  Phoenix,  the  New 
York  Contributorship,  the  Jefferson,  the  United  States,  the  vEtna,  the 
Sun,  the  Protection,  the  Howard,  the  Traders',  the  Tradesmen's,  the 
Firemen's,  and  the  Lafayette,  with  an  aggregate  capital  of  over 
110,000,000. 

The  fire  department  was  then  a  volunteer  association,  and  remained 
so  until  the  year  1865.  It  was  an  ancient  institution  in  the  city — as 
ancient  as  the  beginning  of  the  administration  of  Peter  Stuyvesant  of 
the  government  of  New  Netherlands. 

In  1648  Stuyvesant  appointed  four  fire  -  wardens  to  inspect  the 
Avooden  chimneys  of  the  little  village  of  New  Amsterdam.  A  fine  of 
about  81.3"  was  imposed  upon  all  whose  chimneys  were  found  to  be 
imperfectly  swept.  These  fines  were  to  be  used  for  providing  leather 
fire-buckets  and  hooks  and  ladders.  The  fire-warden  was  among  the 
official  dignitaries  of  the  town,  and  was  not  to  be  treated  with  dis- 
respect. Madaline  Dircks,  one  of  the  good  dames  of  New  Amsterdam, 
was  fined  "two  pounds  Flemish"  for  saying  to  a  fire-warden  as  she 
passed  his  door  (only  in  a  joking  way,  she  pleaded),  "  There  is  the 
chimney-sweep  in  the  door;  his  chimney  is  well  swept."  "Such 
jokes,"  the  court  said,  "cannot  be  tolerated,"  and  the  dame  was 
made  to  pay  dearly  for  her  fun.  One  half  of  the  fine  went  to  the 
church  and  the  other  half  to  the  poor. 

After  the  English  occupation  (1683)  the  office  of  "viewer  and 
searcher  of  chimneys  and  fire-hearths"  was  established,  and  a  fine  of 
fifteen  shillings  was  imposed  upon  those  who  should  allow  their  chim- 
neys to  take  fire  ;  now  the  fine  is  $5. 


228 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


As  the  city  increased,  numerous  hooks  and  ladders  were  added  to  tb.8 
scores  of  fire-buckets.  There  was  no  fire-engine  in  the  city  before 
1731.  In  May  of  that  year  the  city  authorities  ordered  the  purchase 
of  two  engines,  and  appointed  the  mayor  and  two  aldermen  a  commit- 
tee to  ''agree  with  some  proper  merchant  or  merchants"  to  send  to 
London  for  the  same.  A  room  in  the  old  City  Hall,  in  "Wall  Street, 
was  fitted  up  for  their  reception  and  security.  These  engines  were 
queer  looking  machines.  Each  consisted  of  a  short  "oblong-square 
box,  with  the  condenser  in  the  centre,  and  was  played  by  short  arms 
at  each  end.  and  mounted  on  four  block- wheels,  made  of  thick  plank. 
There  was  no  traveller  forward  for  wheels  to  play  under  the  box  ;"  so, 
when  it  turned  a  sharp  corner,  the  engine  must  have  been  lifted 
around.*  The  engines  were  filled  by  means  of  fire-buckets.  Xo 
suction-pipes  were  used  before  the  year  1S06. 

In  1737  the  Legislature  of  New  York,  sitting  in  the  city,  passed  an 
act  for  the  appointment  of  twenty-four  "able-bodied  men,  who  shall 
be  called  the  firemen  of  this  city,  to  work  and  play  the  fire-engines, 
and  who  shall  be  exempt  from  serving  as  constables,  or  doing  militia 
duty  during  their  continuance  as  firemen."  This  was  the  beginning  of 
the  New  York  fire  companies.  This  act  was  passed  in  consequence  of 
a  large  fire  which  had  recently  occurred  in  the  city.  Thirty  "  strong, 
able,  decent,  honest,  and  sober  men"1  were  chosen  for  the  service  out  of 
the  six  wards  of  the  city — five  from  each  ward.f  The  first  engine- 
house  had  been  erected  at  the  corner  of  Wall  and  Broad  streets  the 
year  before. 

Near  the  close  of  the  last  century  each  engine-house  was  furnished 
with  long  poles,  on  each  of  which  twelve  leather  fire-buckets,  provided 
by  the  city,  might  be  carried,  for  it  was  found  inexpedient  to  depend 
upon  private  houses  for  a  sufficiency  of  fire-buckets. 

In  l~»s  "  The  Fire  Department  of  the  City  of  Xew  York"  was  in- 
corporated by  act  of  the  Legislature.    It  was  to  consist  of  all  persons 

*  In  ■  The  Story  of  the  Volunteer  Fire  Department  of  the  City  of  New  York,"  by 
George  W.  Sheldon,  p.  6.  may  be  seen  a  picture  of  one  of  these  engines.  To  that  excel- 
lent work  the  writer  is  greatly  indebted. 

f  The  men  who  composed  the  first  fire  company  in  the  city  were  :  John  Tiebout, 
Hercules  Wardeven,  Jacobus  de  la  Montagne,  Thomas  Brom,  Abraham  Van  Gelder, 
William  Roome,  Jr.,  Walter  Heyer,  Johannes  Alstein,  Evert  Pells,  Jr.,  Jacobus  Stouten- 
burgh,  Peter  Lote.  Peter  Braner,  Albertis  Tiebout,  John  Vredenburgh,  John  Dunscombe, 
Johannes  Roome,  Peter  Marsehalk,  Petrus  Kip,  Abraham  Kip,  Andrew  Meyer,  Jr.,  Robert 
Richardson,  Rymer  Burgos,  Barent  Burgh,  David  Van  Gelder,  Johannes  Van  Duerson, 
Martinus  Bogert,  Johannes  Vredenburgh,  John  Van  Suys,  Adolphus  Brase,  and  John 
Mann. 


/ 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


229 


then  or  who  might  be  thereafter  members  of  any  fire  company  of  the 
city  of  New  York.  This  brought  the  firemen  of  the  city  into  closer 
social  relations,  and  the  spirit  of  the  corps  was  very  high.  They  served 
without  pay,  excepting  in  the  form  of  some  privileges,  and  they  per- 
formed the  arduous  and  sometimes  dangerous  service  of  the  department 
with  the  utmost  enthusiasm.  "  The  pride  and  ambition  of  each  fire 
company,"  said  the  now  venerable  Front  Street  merchant,  Zophar 
Mills,  the  president  of  the  Exempt  Firemen's  Association,  to  Mr. 
Sheldon,  "  were  to  be  the  first  to  reach  a  fire,  and  the  most  efficient  in 
putting  it  out.  We  had  as  much  love  for  that  as  we  possibly  could  for 
anything  else.  We  would  leave  our  business,  our  dinner,  our  anything, 
and  rush  for  the  engine.  The  night  I  was  getting  married  there  was  a 
fire.  I  could  see  it,  and  I  wanted  to  go  immediately.  But  the  next 
morning  early,  before  breakfast,  there  was  another  fire,  and  1  went  to 
that.  So  you  may  judge  how  we  liked  it.  If  we  had  a  parade,  we 
paid  the  expenses  ourselves.  We  always  paid  for  the  painting,  repair- 
ing, and  decorating  our  engines.  The  engine  to  which  I  belonged 
(No.  13)  was  silver  plated — the  first  that  was  so — at  a  cost  perhaps  of 
#2000.  We  didn't  ask  the  corporation  to  foot  the  bill.  .  .  .  There 
were  few  '  roughs  '  then,  as  in  modern  times.  Nor  were  there  any 
salaries,  except  in  the  case  of  the  chief  engineer  and  temporarily  of  the 
assistant  engineer.  Firemen  now  are  liberally  compensated  ;  they  get 
§1200  a  year  each,  and  are  retired  on  half  pay,  if  infirm,  after  ten 
yeai*s'  service."  * 

Mr.  Mills  is  a  most  remarkable  man.  His  physical  and  mental 
energy  was  always  marvellous,  and  he  retains  these  characteristics 
now,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five  years.  For  thirty  years  he  was  an 
active  member  of  the  fire  department  of  New  York  City,  as  a  private, 
foreman,  assistant  engineer,  and  president  of  the  department.  He 
began  the  peculiar  service  by  running  with  Engine  No.  13,  when  he 
was  a  boy  thirteen  years  of  age.  "  For  a  number  of  years,"  says  Mr. 
Sheldon,  "  he  acted  as  leader  of  the  floor  at  the  annual  ball  of  the 
department,  and  also  as  treasurer  of  the  ball  committee.  In  a  single 
night  often  he  would  be  at  the  treasurer's  office,  would  leave  for  the 
ball-room  and  show  the  firemen  how  to  dance,  would  run  with  his 
engine  to  a  fire,  and  then  return  and  dance  until  morning. 

Mr.  Mills,  in  his  prime,  had  a  voice  of  wonderful  power.  "  He  had 
a  throat  like  a  lion,"  said  an  old  fireman  to  Mr.  Sheldon.  "  I  slept  in 
the  attic  of  my  house  in  order  more  easily  to  hear  alarms  of  fire.  I've 


*  Sheldon's  "  Story  of  the  Volunteer  Fire  Department,"  p.  20. 


230 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


heard  Zophar  Mills's  halloo  from  Pearl  Street,  when  I  was  in  bed  in 
William  Street,  '  Turn  out  !  turn  out  !  Fire  !  tire  !  '  Of  course  when 
he  yelled  that,  out  I  went.  The  tones  of  his  voice  had  come  to  me 
through  five  blocks — from  Pearl  to  Cliff  Street,  from  Cliff  to  Yande- 
water,  from  Vandewater  to  Rose,  and  from  Rose  to  William — say 
eight  hundred  feet  at  least,  and  they  could  be  heard  distinctly  at  that 
distance."  On  one  occasion  he  ran  all  the  way  from  Pearl  Street  to 
the  Hell  Gate  ferry,  at  Eighty-sixth  Street,  and  then  crossed  the  river. 
Mr.  Mills  was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York  in  September,  1809.* 

The  New  York  Fire  Department  has  always  been  prompt  and  ener- 
getic in  responding  to  the  public  desires  when  any  great  parade  of  citi- 
zens was  to  take  place,  like  that  of  the  reception  of  Lafayette  in  1824, 
the  great  canal  celebration  the  next  year,  in  honor  of  the  revolution  in 
France  in  1830,  the  introduction  of  the  Croton  water  in  1842,  and  the 
completion  of  the  laying  of  the  Atlantic  cable  in  1858. 

In  lTlH  some  members  of  the  Yolunteer  Fire  Department,  at  a  con- 
vivial party,  initiated  measures  for  creating  a  fund  called  the  "  Fire 
Department  Fund,"  for  the  benefit  of  indigent  and  disabled  firemen. 
In  the  charter  of  the  department,  obtained  in  17!>S,  there  was  a  provi- 
sion for  the  maintenance  of  such  a  fund.  For  a  long  series  of  years  the 
recipients  of  the  benefits  were  few,  and  a  surplus  was  accumulated.  It 
was  invested  in  fire-insurance  stock,  and  was  all  lost  when  the  great 
fire  of  1835  ruined  many  insurance  companies.  But  the  citizens  of 
New  York,  appreciating  the  services  of  the  department,  came  to  the 
rescue,  and  contributed  &24,ooo  toward  a  reinstatement  of  the  fund. 
It  experienced  vicissitudes  afterward,  and  the  Legislature  gave  it  aid 
at  one  time. 

After  the  volunteer  system  was  succeeded  by  a  Paid  Fire  Depart- 
ment, this  trust  was  confided  to  the  Exempt  Yolunteer  Firemen.  It 
then  amounted  to  Kito,ooo  ;  it  is  now  (1883)  over  #130,000.  The  Paid 
Fire  Department  has  a  fund  of  more  than  $400,000.  From  time  to 
time  this  fund  of  the  volunteer  firemen  was  increased  by  the  pro- 
ceeds of  entertainments  freely  given  by  theatres,  etc.  Among  the 
most  active  promoters  of  that  fund  was  the  now  venerable  John  W. 
Degrauw,  who  was  an  energetic  fireman  from  1816  to  1837.  For 
many  years  he  was  president  of  the  fire  department. f 

*  In  December,  1853,  on  the  retirement  of  Mr.  Mills  from  the  office  of  president  of  the 
fire  department,  a  seines  of  complimentary  resolutions  was  passed,  and  in  August.  1853, 
the  representatives  of  that  department  presented  him  with  a  tea-service  of  silver  which 
cost  $1000. 

f  John  W.  Degrauw  was  an  active  merchant  at  the  beginning  of  1883,  although  then 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


231 


The  Association  of  Exempt  Firemen  was  formed  in  1841,  for  the 
purpose  of  protecting  the  benevolent  fund  of  the  department,  for  there 
had  been  at  that  early  day  some  talk  of  a  Paid  Fire  Department.  In 
the  fall  of  1843  the  name  of  the  society  was  changed  to  "  The  Associa- 
tion of  Exempt  Firemen  of  the  City  of  New  York,'1  with  the  avowed 
object  of  affording  such  aid  to  the  fire  department  in  the  city  as  lay  in 
their  power.  The  first  president  of  the  association  was  Uzziah  Wen- 
man  ;  the  present  (ISS3)  incumbent  is  Zophar  Mills,  elected  in  1870. 

The  bill  establishing  the  Paid  Fire  Department  in  the  city  of  New 
York  was  passed  by  the  Legislature  on  the  30th  of  March,  I8(i5.  The 
department  as  a  body  had  vehemently  opposed  the  measure.  It  was 
intimated  that  the  firemen  would,  in  a  body,  resign  and  abandon  their 
apparatus.  There  was  much  excitement  in  the  city.  On  one  engine- 
house  were  posted  the  words  "  To  let  ;"  on  another,  "  Closed  in  conse- 
quence of  a  death  in  the  family  ;*'  and  on  another,  "  Shut  up  for  one 
year  ;  occupants  gone  to  Saratoga.'1  The  firemen  met  in  most  of  the 
engine-houses  to  consider  the  situation,  and  most  of  them  "  took  the 

nearly  eighty-six  years  of  age,  having  been  born  in  May,  1797,  in  the  ward  in  which  his 
store  now  is,  No.  G7  Washington  Street.  He  is  of  Huguenot  descent.  His  father  and 
grandfather  were  soldiers  during  the  whole  of  the  old  war  for  independence.  He  went 
into  a  store  as  clerk  seventy-five  years  ago,  and  has  been  in  business  ever  since. 

"  I'll  tell  you  how  I  live,"  Mr.  Degrauw  said  to  the  author  of  "  The  Story  of  the  Vol- 
unteer Fire  Department"  in  1880.  "  I  ride  every  day,  and  go  to  bed  every  night  at  nine 
o'clock.  I  get  my  dinner  here  [in  his  store — he  lives  in  Brooklyn]— they  send  it  to  me 
from  home — and  take  a  little  drop  of  brandy  and  water.  I'll  show  you  my  dinner  to- 
day." He  brought  out  a  little  basket  containing  a  bottle  of  preserved  berries,  a  cup  of 
custard,  and  some  bread  and  butter.  "  I  go  home  for  supper  ;  no  meat,  but  a  piece  of 
toast,  something  light,  and  a  cup  of  tea.  Then  to  bed  (unless  somebody  comes  in), 
and  half  a  wineglass  of  brandy  or  gin.  I  never  chewed  tobacco.  I  have  smoked  about 
all  my  life,  but  I've  given  that  up  now.    At  present  I  burn  only  two  or  three  cigars  a  day." 

Mr.  Degrauw  is  a  remarkable  man.  His  memory  goes  back  to  the  earlier  days  of  this 
century,  when  "  boys  skated  from  Broadway  near  Pearl  Street  to  the  North  River,"  and 
flew  their  kites  on  the  green  hills  at  Leonard  Street,  beyond  the  old  hospital,  "  away  out 
in  the  country."  He  helped  cast  up  intrenchments  at  Mcflowan's  Pass  (now  in  Central 
Park),  Manhattanville,  and  Brooklyn  during  the  war  of  1812.  He  served  a  term  in  the 
State  Legislature,  and  at  an  early  age  became  an  active  volunteer  fireman.  He  has  ever 
been  a  passionate  lover  of  flowers,  and  he  introduced  the  custom  of  decorating  the  coffin 
and  the  church  with  flowers  at  funerals.  For  thirteen  years  he  was  president  of  the  old 
Brooklyn  Horticultural  Society.  Of  music  too  he  is  fond,  and  has  been  for  many  years 
a  member  of  the  executive  committee  of  the  Brooklyn  Academy  of  Music. 

Mr.  Degrauw  was  a  volunteer  fireman  twenty  years,  a  member  of  Company  16  during 
the  whole  time.  For  several  years  he  was  a  trustee  and  president'  of  the  fire  depart- 
ment ;  chairman  of  the  school  committee  of  the  Trustees'  Fund  provided  for  the  educa- 
tion of  firemen's  children  :  helped  to  make  arrangements  for  the  earliest  firemen's  balls, 
and  secured  benefits  from  the  managers  of  theatres. 


232 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YOKE  CITY. 


matter  philosophically."  At  a  meeting  at  Firemen's  Hall,  on  the  first 
of  April,  Chief-Engineer  Decker  advised  the  firemen  to  continue  their 
services  to  the  city,  and  there  was  a  most  generous  spirit  displayed. 
By  their  conduct  at  that  crisis  the  firemen  of  New  York  won  the 
respect  and  gratitude  of  the  citizens.  The  Volunteer  Fire  Department 
was  disbanded,  and  the  Paid  Fire  Department  took  its  place.  The 
property  of  the  department  was  turned  over  to  a  board  of  fire  commis- 
sioners, appointed  by  the  governor  of  the  State. 

The  changed  conditions  of  the  city  made  this  revolution  in  the  fire 
department  necessary.  The  introduction  of  steam  fire-engines  dimin- 
ished the  number  of  men  necessary  to  the  successful  working  of  the 
machines.  The  rapid  extension  of  the  area  of  the  city  and  other  con- 
ditions made  it  advisable  to  have  a  fire  department  composed  of  men 
who  would  give  their  entire  time  to  the  extinguishment  of  fires. 

The  firemen  of  New  York  (  ity  have  ever  been  ready  to  act  promptly 
and  bravely  in  defence  of  their  country.  In  the  war  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, in  the  second  war  for  independence,  and  in  the  late  Civil  "War, 
their  conduct,  at  home  and  in  the  field,  was  ever  conspicuous.* 

The  steam  fire-engine  was  introduced  into  the  city  of  New  York  in 
1841.  The  frequency  and  extent  of  conflagrations  in  the  city  during 
the  winter  of  1  S3D  -4<»  called  the  attention  of  the  citizens  generally,  and 
of  the  insurance  companies  in  particular,  to  the  subject  of  adopting 
more  efficient  means  for  extinguishing  fires  than  the  city  possessed. 

*  Scores  of  anecdotes,  amusing  and  pathetic,  have  been  related  concerning  the  conduct 
of  New  York  firemen.    The  following  characteristic  one  will  suffice  as  an  example  : 

"  In  Harnum's  old  Museum,  on  the  present  site  of  the  Herald  office,  some  firemen  once 
appeared  as  actors  in  a  play  entitled  The  Patriots  of  '76.  Barnum's  manager  had  ob- 
served that  the  Lady  Washington  Light  Guards,  a  target  company  composed  of  members 
of  Engine  Company  No.  40,  marched  with  considerable  precision,  having  been  drilled 
industriously.  '  Why  not  get  them  to  perform  some  of  their  evolutions  in  our  new  mili- 
tary play  ?  '  he  thought.  The  idea  was  not  distasteful  to  the  men  of  the  engine  company, 
and  they  agreed  to  accept  the  proposal  and  turn  over  the  proceeds  of  the  engagement  to 
some  of  their  number  who  were  out  of  work.  In  due  time  they  appeared  on  the  stage  of 
the  lecture-room  of  the  Museum,  some  dressed  as  Hessians  and  Continentals,  others  as 
Indians,  and  one  as  Moll  Pitcher,  the  famons  heroine  of  Revolutionary  days  ;  but  while 
in  the  midst  of  a  most  exciting  act  the  City  Hall  bell  sounded  an  alarm  of  fire.  '  Boys,' 
cried  their  foreman,  who  was  acting  with  them,  'boys,  there's  a  fire  in  the  Seventh  Dis- 
trict !  '  The  words  had  scarcely  escaped  his  lips  when  his  thirty  comrades  bolted  from 
the  stage,  rushed  up  Broadway  for  their  engine,  and  soon  returned  with  it— the  most 
extraordinary  looking  fire  company  ever  seen  in  the  streets  of  a  civilized  or  \incivilized 
community,  Moll  Pitcher  at  the  head  of  the  rope,  and  a  live  Indian  brandishing  a  fore- 
man's trumpet.  On  reaching  the  fire,  followed  by  a  motley  and  jeering  crowd,  they 
applied  themselves  earnestly  to  the  brakes,  while  the  manager  in  the  Museum  was 
endeavoring  to  explain  to  his  audience  the  cause  of  his  sudden  dilemma." 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


233 


The  untiring  efforts  of  the  well-organized  Volunteer  Fire  Department 
seemed  insufficient  to  perform  the  arduous  duties  required  of  them,  and 
general  alarm  pervaded  the  community. 

At  this  juncture  the  Mechanics'  Institute  of  the  City  of  New  York 
offered  its  gold  medal — the  highest  honor  within  its  gift — as  a  reward 
for  the  best  method  of  applying  steam  as  a  motor  for  fire-engines. 
Several  plans  were  submitted,  and  the  award  was  given  to  Captain 
John  Ericsson,  an  eminent  Swedish  engineer,  who  had  recently  come 
to  America  from  England.  He  estimated  the  power  of  the  engine 
which  he  proposed  to  be  equal  to  that  of  108  men.* 

Boston,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  and  Cincinnati  had  steam  fire- 
engines  before  New  York,  owing  to  the  opposition  of  the  Volunteer 
Fire  Department  in  the  latter  city.  It  was  seen  that  if  four  or  five 
men  could  handle  a  machine,  there  was  no  use  of  having  sixty  men  and 
several  assistants  to  do  the  work.  The  occupation  of  the  Volunteer 
Department  would  be  gone.  This  opposition  was  effectual  to  prevent 
their  introduction  for  many  years.  The  chief  engineer,  so  late  as  1859, 
said  to  the  common  council  that  their  introduction  "  would  embarrass 
seriously  the  volunteer  system.' ' 

Through  the  exertions  of  the  underwriters  a  steam  fire-engine 
appeared  in  the  city  in  L841.  It  was  built  by  Paul  Hodge  &  Co.,  in 
Laight  Street.  It  could  throw  10,000  pounds  of  water  through  a  two 
and  one  eighth  inch  nozzle  to  a  height  of  160  feet  a  minute.  But  it 
was  embarrassed  in  various  ways  by  the;  practical  opposition  of  the 
firemen.  Nevertheless  the  steamers  by  their  own  merits  finally  con- 
quered all  opposition,  and  when  the  volunteers  perceived  their  intro- 
duction inevitable,  they  wisely  concluded  the  new  machines  would  be 
valuable  auxiliaries  of  the  hand-engines.  In  time  the  steamers  su- 
perseded the  latter,  and  now  (1883)  the  city  of  New  York  possesses 
about  fifty  steam  fire-engines  and  as  many  hose-tenders. 

*  Engravings  of  this  engine,  elevation  and  plans,  were  made  by  the  author  of  this 
work,  and  published  in  Mapes's  Repertory  of  Arts,  Science,  and  Manufactures  for  October, 
1840  ;  also  in  the  Family  Maijazine,  edited  by  the  present  writer. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


T  the  beginning  of  the  first  decade  the  city  of  New  York  was 


furnished  with  an  amended  charter.  A  city  convention,  com- 
posed of  five  members  from  each  ward  (sixty-five  in  all),  chosen  by  the 
people  in  pursuance  of  a  recommendation  of  the  common  council,  met 
in  June,  1829,  for  the  purpose  of  revising  and  proposing  amendments 
to  the  charter.  A  series  of  amendments  was  agreed  to,  after  a  pro- 
tracted discussion.  These  were  submitted  to  the  people  of  the  several 
wards,  and  approved  by  them  in  ratification  meetings.  Application 
was  then  made  to  the  Legislature  to  ratify  these  amendments  by  law, 
and  to  make  them  a  part  of  the  charter.    This  was  done  on  April  7, 


The  essential  alterations  in  the  charter  consisted  in  a  division  of  the 
common  council  into  two  distinct  boards,  consisting  of  a  board  of  alder- 
men and  a  board  of  assistants,  to  sit  and  act  separately,  with  concurrent 
and  equal  powers.  These  two  boards  constituted  together  the  legisla- 
tive department  of  the  municipal  government.  It  provided  that  every 
law,  ordinance,  or  resolution  of  the  common  council  must  pass  both 
hoards,  and  be  submitted  to  the  mayor  before  it  passes,  and  if  he, 
within  ten  days,  returned  the  same  with  objections,  it  must  be  reconsid- 
ered, and  pass  both  boards  by  a  majority  of  all  the  members  elected  to 
each  before  it  became  a  law  of  the  corporation. 

It  provided  for  the  choice,  for  one  year,  of  one  alderman  and  one 
assistant  alderman  in  each  ward.  The  two  boards  were  empowered  to 
direct  a  special  election  to  fill  any  vacancy  that  might  occur  in  their 
respective  boards.  Each  board  was  given  authority  to  compel  the 
attendance  of  absent  members,  to  punish  members  for  disorderly  be- 
havior, and  to  expel  a  member  with  the  concurrence  of  two  thirds  of 
the  members  elected  to  each  board.  Any  law.  ordinance,  or  resolution 
might  originate  in  either  board,  and  might  he  amended  or  rejected  by 
the  other. 

It  prohibited  any  member  of  either  board  from  holding  any  office  of 
which  the  emoluments  were  paid  from  the  city  treasury,  or  by  fees 
directed  to  be  paid  by  any  ordinance  of  the  common  council,  or  from 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


235 


being  interested,  directly  or  indirectly,  in  any  contract,  the  expense  of 
which  should  be  paid  by  the  city  government. 

Hitherto  the  mayor  and  recorder  were  ex-offielo  members  of  tbe 
common  council  ;  the  amended  charter  declared  that  neither  of  these 
officers  should  be  a  member  of  the  council  after  the  second  Tuesday  in 
May,  1S31.  The  mayor,  as  before,  was  to  be  appointed  by  the  gov- 
ernor of  the  State,  by  and  with  the  consent  of  the  State  Senate  ;  but 
by  the  alteration  of  the  charter,  and  by  act  of  the  Legislature,  March 
3,  1S34,  it  was  provided  that  the  chief  magistrate  of  the  city  should  be 
chosen  annually  by  the  electors  of  the  municipality. 

The  amended  charter  provided  that  in  the  absence  of  the  mayor,  or 
when  there  should  be  a  vacancy  in  the  office,  the  president  of  the  board 
of  aldermen  should  exercise  the  functions  of  mayor.  The  mayor  was 
required  to  communicate  to  the  common  council  at  least  once  a  year 
(oftener  if  required)  a  general  statement  of  the  condition  of  the  city 
government,  finances,  and  improvements,  and  recommend  such  meas- 
ures as  he  should  deem  expedient.  The  common  council  were  prohib- 
ited from  borrowing  moneys  on  the  credit  of  the  corporation,  except  in 
anticipation  of  the  revenue  of  the  year,  unless  by  a  special  act  of  the 
Legislature,  and  their  intention  to  do  so  must  be  published  two  montbs 
preceding  the  charter  election.  It  provided  that  the  executive  business 
of  the  corporation  should  be  performed  by  distinct  departments,  which 
it  was  the  duty  of  the  common  council  to  organize  and  appoint  for  that 
purpose. 

This  charter  remained  in  force  and  unamended  until  1849,  excepting 
in  the  matter  relating  to  the  election  of  the  mayor  by  the  people.  The 
first  chief  magistrate  of  the  city  chosen  by  the  electors  was  Cornelius 
"W.  Lawrence,  who  was  elected  by  the  Democratic  party  in  1834. 

For  several  years  previous  to  the  creation  of  this  amended  charter, 
New  York  had  been  governed  by  one  body,  composed  of  the  mayor, 
recorder,  and  common  council  (the  latter  consisting  of  one  alderman 
and  assistant  alderman  from  each  ward),  sitting  in  one  chamber.  The 
corporation  was  vested  with  the  power  of  enacting  municipal  laws  and 
of  enforcing  their  observance,  under  proper  penalties.  The  mayor, 
recorder,  and  aldermen  were  ex-offieio  justices  of  the  peace,  having 
power  to  hold  courts  of  General  Sessions  and  to  decide  as  to  all  offences 
coming  under  the  cognizance  of  the  regular  justices  of  the  peace.  They 
were  likewise  included  in  the  commission  of  Oyer  and  Terminer  for  the 
trial  of  capital  offences,  and  were  empowered  to  hold  a  court  of 
Common  Pleas,  which  had  been  called  the  Mayor's  Court,  in  which 
civil  actions  of  every  description  were  tried. 


230 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


In  1821  a  permanent  law  judge  was  appointed  to  preside  in  the 
Mayor's  Court,  an  act  having  been  passed  changing  the  name  to  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas  for  the  City  of  New  York.  This  act  was 
Irawn  by  John  Anthon,  then  the  most  prominent  practitioner  in  the 
Mayor's  Court.  The  officer  thus  created  was  called  the  first  judge, 
to  hold  office  during  good  behavior,  or  until  he  should  attain  the  age 
of  sixty  years.  In  1N22  the  term  of  this  office  was  changed  to  five 
years,  and  the  power  of  appointment,  theretofore  lodged  in  the  Council 
of  Appointment,  was  vested  in  the  governor  of  the  State.  The  mayor, 
recorder,  and  aldermen  were  still  authorized  to  sit  in  that  court,  but 
the  first  judge  was  empowered  to  hold  the  court  without  them  ;  indeed 
it  was  made  his  special  duty  to  hold  it.  John  T.  Irving,  a  brother  of 
"Washington  Irving,  was  the  first  judge  appointed  under  this  law,  and 
the  mayor  in  1*21-23  (Stephen  Allen)  ceased  to  preside  in  this  court. 
In  1823  Richard  Hiker,  the  recorder,  took  the  place  of  the  mayor  as 
the  presiding  judge  of  the  Court  of  Sessions,  and  Irving  sat  as  the 
judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas.    This  court  was  changed  in  1 8-1*1. 

Judge  Irving  (born  in  1778)  was,  in  many  respects,  a  model  judge, 
lie  was  remarkable  for  strict  integrity,  a  strong  love  of  justice,  and  for 
exact  and  methodical  habits.  He  was  attentive,  careful,  painstaking  •, 
considered  every  case  so  attentively  that  his  judgments  were  rarely 
reversed,  and  were  uniformly  treated  by  courts  of  revision  with  great 
respect. 

hike  his  brother  Washington,  he  had  talent  and  taste  for  literary 
composition.  lie  published  in  the  newspapers,  particularly  in  the 
Morning  Chronicle,  a  Democratic  journal  started  by  his  brothers,  prose 
and  poetical  pieces,  especially  poetical  attacks  upon  his  political  oppo- 
nents, remarkable  for  their  point,  brilliancy,  and  satire.  When  he 
became  judge  his  conscientious  application  to  his  duties  ended  his  lit- 
erary  career,  and  no  doubt  shortened  his  life.  At  his  death,  which 
occurred  in  March,  1838,  at  the  age  of  sixty,  the  bar  of  New  York 
caused  a  handsome  marble  tablet,  with  his  bust  in  relief  and  a  suitable 
inscription  in  Latin,  to  be  placed  in  the  court-room.  The  following  is 
a  copy  of  the  inscription  : 

' '  VIRO  .  HONORATO 

Joanne  •  T  •  Irving 

QVEM  •  JVDICES  •  OFFICIO  •  MVLTOS  •  PER  •  ANNOS  •  FVNCENTEM 
ET  ■  U1GVM  •  DOCTRINI  •  ET  •  MORVM  ■  INTEORITAS  •  FELICISSIME  •  CONDECORABANT 
JTRISCONSVLTI  •  NEO  •  EBORACENSES  •  QVTBVS  •  ET  •  AMICI  •  ET  •  MAGISTRI 
TAM  •  TRISTE  •  RELQVIT  •  DESIDERVM 
H  •  M  •  PONENDVM  •  CVRAVERVNT." 


FIRST  DECADE.  1830-1840 


237 


It  was  daring  the  presidency  of  Judge  Irving  in  the  Court  of  Com- 
mon Pleas  that  New  York  presented  a  remarkable  array  of  brilliant 
lawyers.  In  that  court  might  have  been  seen  Thomas  Addis  Emmet,* 
Peter  A.  Jay,f  Peter  W.  Radcliffe,  Samuel  M.  Hopkins.  John  Anthon,J 
Martin  IS.  Wilkins,  Elisha  W.  King,  David  B.  Ogden,  William  Samson, 
"William  Slosson,  Pierre  C.  Van  Wyck,  John  T.  Mulligan,  Robert 
Bogardus,  Thomas  Phoenix,  Joseph  D.  Fay,  David  Graham,  Sen.,  Hugh 
Maxwell,  John  Leveridge,  Ogden  Hoffman  (then  rapidly  rising  in  the 
profession),  and  others. 

There  was  a  Court  of  Sessions,  a  Court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer,  a 
Marine  Court,  and  ward  district  courts.  The  Court  of  Sessions  was  a 
tribunal  for  determining  in  all  cases  of  felony  and  of  offences  committed 
within  the  city,  and  had  power  to  appoint  special  sessions  of  the  peace 
for  the  same  purposes.  The  judges  of  the  Court  of  Sessions  consisted 
of  the  recorder  and  two  aldermen  ;  that  of  the  Court  of  Oyer  and 
Terminer  consisted  of  the  recorder  and  aldermen,  and  was  empowered  to 
try  all  cases  of  treason,  felony,  and  other  inferior  crimes.  The  Marine 
Court  was  a  tribunal  consisting  of  three  judges,  two  of  whom  were 

*  Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  LL.D.,  a  political  refugee  from  Ireland,  was  an  eminent 
member  of  the  New  York  bar.  He  was  born  in  Cork  in  1704,  and  died  in  New  York  City 
in  November,  1827.  An  obelisk  of  white  marble  marks  his  grave  in  St.  Paul's  church- 
yard, near  Broadway.  He  was  a  brother  of  the  celebrated  Irish  patriot  and  martyr, 
Robert  Emmet,  and  a  son  of  a  distinguished  Dublin  physician.  He  studied  medicine  in 
Edinburgh  and  law  in  England,  was  admitted  to  the  Dublin  bar  in  1791,  and  soon  rose 
to  distinction  in  his  profession.  He  was  a  leader  of  the  league  known  as  United  Irish- 
men, and  was  one  of  the  general  committee  of  that  body.  During  the  outbreak  in  Ire- 
land in  1798  he  was  arrested,  with  others,  and  suffered  imprisonment  in  Scotland  more 
than  two  years,  during  which  time  he  wrote  a  work  entitled  "  Pieces  of  Irish  History," 
on  which  he  had  been  engaged,  and  illustrative  of  the  condition  of  the  Roman  Catholics 
in  Ireland,  which  was  printed  in  New  York  in  1807.  He  was  finally  permitted  to  with- 
draw to  France,  where  he  was  joined  by  his  family,  and  came  to  America,  arriving  at  New 
York  in  November,  1804.  There  he  soon  became  distinguished  in  his  profession  as  a 
laborious  and  successful  pleader  and  finished  orator.  In  1812  he  was  attorne3'-general  of 
the  State  of  New  York,  but  served  only  six  months.  In  1824  Columbia  College  conferred 
on  Mr.  Emmet  the  honorary  degree  of  LL.D. 

t  Peter  Augustus  Jay  was  the  eldest  son  of  Governor  John  Jay,  and  was  his  private 
secretary  while  governor  and  chief  justice.  He  was  president  of  the  New  York  Histori- 
cal Society,  and  an  active  member  of  the  New  York  bar.  In  1810  he  represented  a  dis- 
trict in  the  New  York  Assembly,  and  was  recorder  of  New  York  City  in  1819-20.  Colum- 
bia College  conferred  on  him  the  honorary  degree  of  LL.D. 

X  John  Anthon,  LL.D.,  was  a  native  of  Detroit,  where  he  was  born  in  1784.  He  was 
in  the  military  service  in  the  war  of  1812.  He  was  a  most  industrious  law}-er,  and  tried 
more  causes,  it  is  said,  than  any  other  man.  at  the  New  York  bar  or  elsewhere.  He  was 
instrumental  in  establishing  the  Superior  Court  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  the  Law 
Institute.  He  was  president  of  the  latter  at  the  time  of  his  death,  in  March,  1863.  He 
published  several  works  of  great  interest  to  the  legal  profession. 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


always  present  at  a  trial,  or  no  legal  decision  could  be  obtained.  It 
was  empowered  to  try  actions  for  debt  to  the  amount  of  $100  or  less, 
to  determine  seamen's  wages  to  any  amount,  and  in  actions  of  assault 
and  battery  or  false  imprisonment  among  seamen  and  passengers.  It 
was  distinct  from  all  other  courts  of  justice  ;  it  had  no  power  to  hold 
sessions  of  the  peace,  but  as  to  keeping  the  peace  its  officers  had  the 
same  power  as  other  magistrates.  The  ward  district  courts  tried  ques- 
tions of  debt  and  trespass  to  the  amount  of  $50  ;  also  all  petty  cases, 
such  as  came  under  the  cognizance  of  justices  of  the  peace  in  towns. 
The  sessions  were  held  every  day  excepting  Sundays  and  holidays. 
The  district  courts  now  are  similar  to  those  of  1830. 

The  duties  of  the  police  of  the  city  at  that  time  were  regulated  and 
discharged  by  three  justices  appointed  for  the  purpose  by  the  common 
council.  The  chancellor,  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  members 
of  the  common  council  might  attend  the  sessions  of  the  Police  Court, 
w  hich  were  held  every  day  excepting  Sunday,  and  assist  the  police 
justices.  At  least  one  police  justice  and  the  police  clerk  had  to  be  in 
attendance  at  sunrise  every  morning  to  take  cognizance  of  offences 
committed  din  ing  the  night  against  the  peace  and  good  order  of  the 
city.  Besides  the  ordinary  duties  of  examining  persons  brought  up  for 
breaches  of  the  peace  and  other  offences,  and  binding  over  the  parties 
to  be  prosecuted  at  the  sessions  when  that  appeared  necessary,  the 
police  magistrates  possessed  powers,  in  certain  cases,  similar  to  those 
exercised  by  aldermen  of  the  city  in  certain  cases  out  of  the  sessions, 
such  as  "  illegitimate  children,  apprentices,  servants,  vagrants,  vaga- 
bonds,'' etc.  For  these  sessions  they  received  the  same  fees  as  alder- 
men, besides  a  fixed  salary. 

The  night  guardians  of  the  peace  and  of  the  property  of  the  citizens 
of  New  York  before  1831  were  a  few  watchmen,  stationed  upon  pre- 
scribed "  beats"'  and  subject  to  certain  rules.  They  were  appoint- 
ed by  the  common  council.  A  prescribed  number  of  men  —  trust- 
worthy men — were  chosen  from  among  the  householders  who  were 
citizens,  as  "  captains  of  the  watch."  These,  under  the  AVatch  Com- 
mittee of  the  corporation,  fixed  the  rounds  of  the  watchmen,  who  were 
also  appointed  by  the  common  council,  prescribed  their  duties,  visited 
the  stations,  reported  delinquencies,  suspended  an  offending  watchman 
till  the  pleasure  of  the  common  council  should  be  known,  and  made  a 
return  every  morning  to  the  police  justices  of  the  names  and  number  of 
watchmen  on  duty  the  preceding  night,  and  the  delinquents,  if  any. 
For  these  services  each  captain  of  the  watch  received  $1.87£  as  a  com- 
pensation for  each  night's  service. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


239 


The  watchmen  were  divided  into  companies,  and  to  each  company 
were  added  twelve  substitutes,  to  act  in  case  of  absence  of  the  regular 
watchmen.  The  watchmen  were  summarily  dismissed  if  found  sleep- 
ing or  intoxicated  while  on  duty,  or  absent  without  sufficient  excuse. 
It  was  their  duty  to  arrest  offenders  and  detain  them  until  discharged. 
In  addition  to  these  routine  services,  the  watchmen  were  required,  in 
case  of  a  riot  or  disorder,  or  on  any  extraordinary  occasion,  to  assist 
those  in  other  districts.  For  all  this  prescribed  vigilance,  for  exposure 
to  the  vicissitudes  of  weather  and  to  the  danger  of  encounters  with 
desperate  men,  the  watchmen  in  the  city  of  New  York  fifty  years  ago 
were  paid  the  munificent  sum  of  87£  cents  for  every  night's  service  ! 

The  most  notable  man  among  the  officers  appointed  to  administer 
justice  and  preserve  order  in  the  city  of  New  York  fifty  or  sixty  year,s 
ago  was  Richard  Riker,  a  sort  of  vicar-general  of  the  police,  night- 
watch,  and  fire  departments,  when  exercising  the  functions  of  his 
office.  lie  was  an  upright  and  sagacious  judge  at  the  head  of  a  court, 
and  an  estimable  citizen.  He  served  as  recorder  of  the  city  twenty 
years,  at  three  different  times,  beginning  with  1815  and  ending  with 
1838.  Mr.  Edwards,  in  his  interesting  volume,  "  Pleasantries  about 
Courts  and  Lawyers  of  the  State  of  New  York,''  gives  most  agreeable 
glimpses  of  the  character  and  career  of  Recorder  Riker. 

"  No  one,"'  says  Mr.  Edwards,  "  can  take  up  works  containing  crim- 
inal trials  of  the  period  when  Mr.  Riker  was  presiding  judge  without 
being  satisfied  that  he  was  a  sound  criminal  lawyer.  His  decisions 
were  generally  correct,  and  what  is  not  common  with  a  criminal  magis- 
trate, he  rather  softened  toward  the  erring  as  his  years  on  the  bench 
increased — perhaps  even  a  weakness  was  exhibited  in  the  familiar  style 
he  used.  But  with  him  it  was  honesty  of  heart.  He  was  the  last  man 
to  wound  by  word  or  manner.'"'  * 

Recorder  Riker  was  remarkably  courteous  and  gentlemanly  in  his 
deportment,  treating  all  persons  of  high  or  low  degree  with  equal 
suavity.  He  was  so  childlike  in  his  confidence,  that  when  sitting  at 
chambers  to  grant  orders,  for  which  judges  were  then  paid  a  fee  by 
fixed  statute,  he  seldom  looked  over  the  papers,  but  signed  his  name 
almost  as  a  matter  of  course.  It  is  related  that  Anthony  Dey,  who 
loved  the  recorder,  made  a  small  wager  that  he  would  induce  Mr. 
Riker  to  grant  an  order  for  his  own  commitment  to  prison.  Dey  took 
a  mittimus  to  him  to  that  effect.  He  signed  it,  and  took  the  prescribed 
fee  for  his  signature.    The  paper  he  had  signed  authorized  the  sheriff 


*  "  Pleasantries,"  p.  389. 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


of  New  York  City  and  County  to  "  commit  Richard  Biker,  Esq., 
recorder  and  supreme  court  commissioner,  to  the  common  jail  !" 

At  the  beginning  of  the  century,  when  Mr.  Riker  was  a  young  man 
and  political  party  spirit  was  fierce  between  Republicans  and  Federal- 
ists, after  the  election  of  Mr.  Jefferson  to  the  Presidency,  a  duel  had 
been  fought  between  De  AVitt  Clinton,  then  mayor  of  New  York,  and 
Colonel  John  Swartwout.  Riker,  then  about  thirty  years  of  age,  was 
a  warm  political  partisan  and  an  ardent  personal  friend  and  admirer  of 
Clinton.  They  had  studied  law  together,  and  were  as  intimate  as 
brothers.  lie  had  been  Mr.  Clinton's  second  in  the  duel.  After  that 
event  Clinton  was  scandalously  maligned  in  the  opposition  newspapers. 
He  was  satirized  and  caricatured.  Mr.  Riker  was  indignant,  and  pub- 
lished his  sentiments  jn  defence  of  his  friend  so  freely  that  it  caused  a 
challenge  to  fight  to  be  sent  to  him  by  Colonel  Swartwout's  brother 
Robert. 

Young  Riker,  brave  as  he  was  generous,  accepted  the  challenge. 
They  fought  at  Weehawken,  near  where  General  Hamilton  fell  a  few 
months  later.  Mr.  Pierre  C.  Yan  Wyck  was  Mr.  Hiker's  second.  At 
the  word  given  Riker  fell,  severely  wounded  in  the  right  leg  a  little 
above  the  ankle  joint. 

The  wounded  man  was  taken  on  a  litter  to  his  house  in  Wall  Street, 
near  the  old  City  Hall,  where  he  then  kept  bachelor's  hall  with  his 
brother.  Dr.  Richard  Kissain,  his  warm  friend,  was  in  immediate 
attendance. 

"  "Would  you  like  a  consultation  of  surgeons  ?"  asked  Kissam. 
"  What  would  be  the  result  ?"  inquired  Riker. 

"  The  result  would  be  that  the  leg  must  be  taken  off,"  was  the  reply. 
"  What  chance  do  1  stand  for  my  life  by  keeping  my  limb  V  in- 
quired the  sufferer. 

"  One  chance  in  ten,"  was  the  reply. 

"  I  accept  the  chance  cheerfully,"  said  Riker  ;  "  so  now,  my  friend, 
do  what  you  can,  and  by  the  aid  of  the  Almighty  and  a  fine  constitu- 
tion I  may  yet  save  both  limb  and  life." 

This  duel  was  fought  on  November  14,  lso.'i.  When  Swartwout  was 
afterward  asked  how  Hiker  appeared  on  the  field  he  replied,  "  As  brave 
as  Julius  ( 'asar. " 

Mr.  Biker's  political  enemies  tried  to  have  the  wounded  man  arrested 
for  the  misdemeanor  of  fighting  a  duel,  but  his  friend  General  Hamilton 
persuaded  the  law  officers  to  stop  the  proceedings.  At  that  time  Mr. 
Riker  was  deputy  attorney-general  of  the  State.  The  wound  made 
him  lame  all  his  life. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


241 


"It  is  a  pity,"  says  Edwards,  "  Halleck,  so  full  of  heart  himself, 
should,  in  mere  playfulness,  have  penned  and  allowed  the  following1 
incorrectness  to  go  in  type  in  his  poem,  '  The  Recorder,'  published  in 
1828  : 

"  '  The  Recorder,  like  Bob  Acres,  stood 
Edgewise  upon  a  field  of  blood, 

The  why  and  wherefore  Swartwout  knows  ; 
Pulled  trigger,  as  a  brave  man  should, 

And  shot,  God  bless  thern,  his  own  toes.'  " 

In  the  same  poem  Halleck  wrote  : 

"  My  dear  Recorder,  you  and  I 

Have  floated  down  life's  stream  together, 
And  kept  unharmed  our  friendship's  tie, 
Through  every  change  in  Fortune's  sky, 

Her  pleasant  and  her  rainy  weather." 

As  an  instance  of  Mr.  Hiker's  engaging  manner,  it  is  related  that 
when  John  Van  Wyok  took  Swartwout's  challenge  to  him  (who  was 
apprised  of  the  errand),  he  cheerfully  invited  the  bearer  into  his  office, 
saving  unconcernedly  that  lie  bad  an  interesting  law  case,  and  would 
like  to  have  Van  Wyck's  views  upon  it.  So  pleasant  and  kindly  was 
the  impression  which  was  made  of  Hiker  in  the  mind  of  Swartwout's 
messenger  that  he  went  back  and  told  his  principal  he  would  not  act 
as  his  second. 

Recorder  Riker's  methods  in  quelling  riots — using  kindness  instead 
of  ball  and  bayonet — were  marvellously  successful.  Undoubtedly  his 
own  personal  character  had  much  to  do  in  his  achieving  success. 

On  one  occasion  there  was  a  riot  in  the  Five  Points,  then  the  worst 
sink  of  iniquity  in  the  city.  Men,  women,  and  children  were  hurling 
missiles  of  every  kind  in  a  fearful  manner.  The  recorder  was  urged  to 
call  out  the  military  to  suppress  the  disturbance.  The  mob  was  com- 
posed largely  of  Irish.  He  called  on  the  aged  Father  O'Brien,  a 
Roman  Catholic  priest,  and  invited  him  to  assist  in  quieting  the  mob. 
The  good  priest  put  on  his  stole,  and  with  a  missal  in  hand  walked 
arm-in-arm  with  the  recorder  to  the  scene  of  excitement.  The  priest 
went  reading  his  book.  In  an  instant  after  he  appeared  the  mob 
began  to  disperse,  and  very  soon  disappeared  down  cellar  steps  and 
through  narrow  alleys.  Before  the  two  had  reached  the  Points,  not  a 
person  was  to  be  seen. 

On  another  occasion,  returning  in  the  evening  from  his  almost  daily 
visit  to  his  aged  mother,  "  up-town,"  near  Canal  Street,  the  recorder 


U2 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


saw  a  crowd  of  white  men  in  Broadway,  near  Anthony  (now  "Worth) 
Street,  fiercely  attacking-  a  house  occupied  by  colored  people,  and  pelting 
them  with  missiles  as  they  attempted  to  leave  the  house.  The  occasion 
for  the  attack  was  the  marriage  of  a  white  girl  to  a  negro.  The 
frightened  inmates  rushed  to  the  street  for  safety  just  as  the  recorder 
appeared.  He  went  into  the  midst  of  the  colored  people  and  told  them 
to  gather  around  him  and  he  would  protect  them.  Missiles  were  flying 
thick  and  fast.  Mr.  Biker  called  on  the  assailants  to  stop.  A  voice 
cried  out  : 

"  That's  the  recorder  ;  don't  throw  those  stones  !" 
The  assailants  obeyed,  and  then  shouted,  "  Hurrah  for  the  recorder  ! 
let  him  pass." 

Mr.  Biker  led  the  colored  people  in  safety  to  the  City  Hall,  where 
they  were  kept  in  security  until  morning.* 

At  this  period  the  Tammany  Society  or  Columbian  Order,  at  first 
organized  as  a  patriotic,  benevolent,  and  social  institution  at  the  begin- 
ning of  "Washington's  first  term  as  President,  was  a  controlling  power 
in  the  Democratic  party  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  has  been  ever 
since. 

It  was  founded  chiefly  through  the  exertions  of  William  Mooney,  an 
upholsterer  in  New  York  City.  Its  first  meeting  was  held  on  May  13, 
17SIJ,  about  a  fortnight  after  Washington's  inauguration  in  the  New 
York  City  Hall.  The  society  took  its  name  from  St.  Tammany  or 
Tammanend,  a  noted  Delaware  chief,  supposed  to  have  been  one  of 
those  who  made  the  famous  treaty  with  William  1'enn.    It  was  a  tra- 

*  Richard  Riker  was  born  at  the  family  homestead  on  the  shore  of  Bowery  Bay,  L.  I., 
just  opposite  Riker's  Island,  on  September  9,  1773.  The  tract  of  land  on  which  Lis  birth- 
place stood  was  given  by  William,  Prince  of  Orange,  in  1030,  to  Geysbert  Riker,  the  pro- 
genitor of  the  family  in  this  country.  The  house  in  which  he  was  born  was  burned  by 
the  British  during  the  old  war  for  independence  ;  for  his  father,  Samuel  Riker,  was  a 
leading  patriot  in  that  region,  and  his  mother,  Anna  Lawrence,  was  the  daughter  of  an- 
other zealous  patriot,  Thomas  Lawrence.    It  was  rebuilt  at  the  close  of  the  Revolution. 

Mr.  Riker's  father  was  an  active  member  of  the  Committee  of  Correspondence  of  the 
town  of  Newtown,  a  lieutenant  of  a  troop  of  light-horsemen,  and  the  first  supervisor  of 
the  town  elected  by  the  people  at  the  close  of  the  war,  1783.  It  is  related  that  when 
Richard  was  three  years  of  age  a  British  officer  and  some  of  his  men  were  quartered 
upon  the  family  of  Mr.  Lawrence,  Mrs.  Riker's  father.  She  was  then  an  inmate  of  the 
house.  One  day  the  little  boy  was  playing  on  the  grass,  near  where  the  officers  were 
sitting,  watched  by  his  mother.  The  boy,  perceiving  a  small  ornamented  dirk  in  ths 
officer's  belt,  suddenly  seized  it,  drew  it  from  its  sheath,  and  thrusting  it  toward  the 
officer,  said  : 

"  Dis  is  the  way  my  papa  'ticks  the  Reg'lars. " 

The  officer,  amused  by  the  spirit  of  the  boy,  playfully  caught  him  in  his  arms  and  said  : 


FIRST  DECADE,  1S30-1S40. 


243 


dition  that  he  '"  loved  liberty  more  than  life,"  and  he  was  therefore 
chosen  1o  be  the  tutelar  saint  of  the  new  patriotic  organization.  Tam- 
many was  canonized  by  his  admirers  during-  the  old  war  for  indepen- 
dence, and  he  was  established  as  the  tutelar  saint  of  the  new  Republic. 

In  imitation  of  a  similar  society  which  had  been  formed  in  Philadel- 
phia, the  officers  consisted  of  a  grand  sachem  and  thirteen  inferior 
sachems,  representing  the  President  of  the  United  States  and  the 
governors  of  the  thirteen  States.  Besides  these  there  was  a  grand 
council,  of  which  the  sachems  were  members.  It  very  soon  became 
exceedingly  popular,  and  its  membership  included  most  of  the  best  men 
of  New  York  City.  Xo  party  politics  were  allowed  to  be  discussed  at 
its  meetings. 

But  circumstances  soon  changed  the  character  of  the  association. 
( )n  account  of  the  violent  resistance  to  law  of  the  secret  Democratic 
societies  at  the  time  of  the  Whiskey  Insurrection  in  1794,  President 
Washing-ton  denounced  ''self-constituted  societies."  Nearly  all  the 
members  of  the  Tammany  Society,  believing  they  were  included  in  this 
condemnation,  withdrew  from  it.  Mooney  and  others  adhered  to  the 
organization,  and  from  that  time  it  became  a  political  society,  taking- 
sides  with  Jefferson  and  the  Democratic  party,  of  which  he  was  the 
father.  They  first  met  as  such  at  Martling's  Long  Room,  on  the 
south-east  corner  of  Nassau  and  Spruce  streets. 

In  the  year  1800  the  Tammany  Society  determined  to  build  a  "  wig- 
wam,"and  Tammany  Hall,  after  considerable  delay,  was  erected,  on  the 
site  of  Martling's.    The  corner-stone  was  laid  in  May,  1811,  and  the 

"  It  I  meet  your  fatherin  battle,  I  will  spare  liim  foryoursake,  my  brave  little  fellow  !" 

Richard  received  a  good  English  education,  and  studied  law  with  Samuel  Jones.  A 
fellow-student  was  De  Witt  Clinton.  They  there  formed  a  mutual  friendship,  which  was 
warm  and  unbroken  until  death. 

In  early  manhood  Eiker  was  deputy  attorney-general  of  the  State  of  New  York,  and 
afterward  a  Supreme  Court  commissioner.  General  Hamilton  was  his  personal  and 
political  friend.  At  past  thirty  years  of  age  he  married  a  daughter  of  Daniel  Phoenix,  a 
leading  man  in  New  York  City.  He  was  one  of  a  party  who  received  General  Washing- 
ton at  Fraunce's  tavern,  and  read  an  address  of  the  citizens  to  him  after  the  evacuation 
of  the  fity  by  the  British,  in  November,  1783.  Mr.  Phoenix  was  for  many  years  treasurer 
of  the  city.  Mr.  Eiker  was  married  (probably)  at  Mr.  rhuenix"s  country  residence  at 
Greenwich  Village,  on  Manhattan  Island. 

Mr.  Eiker  was  first  chosen  recorder  of  the  city  in  1815,  and  served  four  years.  He  was 
again  chosen  in  1821,  and  served  two  years,  and  being  appointed  recorder  again  in  1824, 
he  served  fourteen  years  successively.  He  died  at  "  Arch  Brook,"  his  country  residence, 
at  the  foot  of  Seventy-fourth  and  Seventy-fifth  streets  (East  Eiver),  in  New  York  City,  on 
October  lfi,  1842.  He  has  two  daughters  living  in  the  city  of  New  York— Mxs.  Samuel 
SpriDg  and  Mrs.  Harris  Wilson. 


244 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


hall  was  finished  the  next  year.  The  venerable  Jacob  Barker,  who 
died  in  Philadelphia  in  1871  at  the  age  of  ninety-two  years,  was  the 
last  survivor  of  the  building  committee  of  thirteen.  This  hall  was 
abandoned  a  few  years  ago  (now  occupied  by  the  Sun  newspaper  estab- 
lishment), and  a  new  building  was  erected  in  Fourteenth  Street,  not  far 
from  Irving  Place. 

One  of  the  most  active  members  of  the  Tammany  Society  for  many 
years  was  the  lion.  Clarkson  Orolius,  who  was  the  grand  sachem  or 
sagamore  of  the  institution.  Year  after  year  the  political  and  social 
power  of  the  Tammany  Society  increased,  and  now  it  is  considered  the 
most  thoroughly  organized  body  of  the  kind  in  the  Republic  It  ordi- 
narily polls  about  half  of  the  entire  vote  of  the  city.  It  has  com- 
mittees in  every  district  in  the  city,  and  a  central  or  general  com- 
mittee of  over  eleven  hundred  members  This  committee  is,  in 
theory,  the  head  of  the  party,  but  usually  the  most  active  and  in- 
fluential member  of  the  party—  a  "  boss" — controls  that  committee 
by  seeing  that  only  such  men  as  suit  his  views  are  chosen  by  it.  The 
executive  body  of  this  central  committee  is  the  Committee  on  Disci- 
pline, of  which,  generally,  the  chief  of  the  party  is  chairman.  Before 
the  Committee  on  Discipline  any  member,  either  of  a,  district  committee 
or  of  the  central  committee,  may  be  summoned  and  tried  for  party  dis- 
loyalty, and,  if  found  guilty,  expelled.* 

It  was  at  the  beginning  of  this  decade  that  political  party  spirit, 
which  had  been  kept  partially  subordinate  to  the  public  good  for  sev- 
eral years,  appeared  in  a  most  aggressive  and  alarming  aspect.  It  had 
been  aroused,  fostered,  and  stimulated  by  the  events  of  the  presidential 
election  which  placed  General  Andrew  Jackson  in  the  chair  of  Chief 
Magistrate  of  the  Republic,  in  the  spring  of  182& 

A  disturbing  and  dangerous  element  had  now  begun  to  appear  prom- 
inently in  our  political  system.  The  practical  effects  of  universal 
suffrage,  very  little  restricted,  had  opened  a  wide  door  for  the  political 

*  The  device  of  the  certificate  of  membership  adopted  by  the  society  was  a  pointed 
arch  composed  of  two  cornucopias  resting  on  two  columns,  on  each  side  of  which  were 
two  figures,  one  of  Liberty,  the  other  of  Justice.  On  a  pedestal  bearing  the  former  were 
the  figures  177G  ;  on  that  bearing  the  latter  were  the  figures  17«!>.  Below  the  foundation 
upon  which  the  two  columns  rest  is  an  arch  resting  upon  rocks.  The  arch  is  composed 
of  thirteen  stones,  bearing  the  respective  names  of  the  thirteen  original  States.  The 
key-stone  is  Pennsylvania,  and  it  is  snpposed  by  some  that  this  feature  in  the  Tammany 
certificate  of  membership  was  the  origin  of  the  calling  of  Pennsylvania  the  Keystone 
State.  Below  this  arch  is  a  view  of  land  and  water  and  symbols  of  agriculture  and  com- 
merce. The  certificate  was  designed  by  Dr.  Charles  Buxton,  and  engraved  on  copper  by 
George  Graham. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


245 


influences  of  a  new  class  of  citizens.  These  were  aliens  from  Europe, 
most  of  them  illiterate,  and  all  of  them  strangers  to  our  laws  and 
our  free  institutions.  These  immigrants  were  mostly  from  Ireland. 
They  were  met  by  naturalization  laws  which  discriminated  in  their 
favor,  as  to  native-born  citizens. 

The  American  citizen  arriving-  at  the  "  age  of  accountability"  has  to 
wait  seven  years  before  he  may  exercise  the  great  right  and  privilege 
of  the  elective  franchise  ;  the  foreigner,  however  ignorant  or  debased, 
might  attain  that  grand  acquisition  of  American  citizenship  in  Jive 
years. 

This  discrimination  had  been  made  by  a  party  in  power  for  the  pur- 
pose of  securing  the  votes  of  these  foreigners,  of  whom  fully  ninety 
per  cent  could  neither  read  nor  write,  and  who,  as  a  rule,  could  be 
bought  and  sold  like  "dumb,  driven  cattle."  New  York  City,  into 
which  a  greater  portion  of  the  tide  of  foreign  immigration  was  pouring 
at  that  time,  was  the  first  to  experience  the  pernicious  effects  of  the 
new  order  of  things.  These  effects  were  rapidly  developed,  and  it  was 
not  long  before  sensible  and  observing  men  perceived,  with  anxiety  if 
not  alarm,  that  the  elections  were  becoming  more  and  more  mere  shad- 
owy imitations  of  the  grand  institution  they  pretended  to  represent. 
Instead  of  being  the  theatre  for  the  exercise  of  one  of  the  holiest  rights 
and  privileges  of  an  American  citizen,  it  had  become  a  place  of  traffic 
between  demagogues  and  ignorant  voters,  in  which  the  commodities 
exchanged  were  the  products  of  knaves  and  dupes.  The  vicious  system 
then  developed  logically  led  to  the  fearful  election  riots  of  1834,  which 
will  be  considered  presently. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  a  more  pleasant  theme. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


A WRITER  in  1850,  alluding  to  the  period  of  the  first  decade,  said 
it  was  "  the  Augustan  age  of  American  literature.'"  It  was,  in- 
deed, comparatively  so,  for  there  was  then  a  brilliant  constellation  of 
intellectual  lights  of  various  magnitude  in  the  firmament  of  letters.  A 
large  number  of  these  were  then  in  New  York  City.  Such  a  cluster 
had  never  been  seen  before.  There  were  veteran  writers  whose  laurels 
were  secure  ;  there  were  young  aspirants  for  fame  which  they  after- 
ward obtained  in  full  measure. 

There  was  also  at  that  time  a  remarkable  cluster  of  artists  in  the  city 
of  New  York  :  some  veterans  wearing  their  laurels  proudly,  others  of 
rare  promise,  who  then  and  afterward  fully  vindicated  the  claims  of 
American  artists  to  the  meed  of  superior  excellence. 

The  literary  men  and  artists  were  working  together  in  the  spirit  of 
fraternal  love.  The  recent  creation  of  the  National  Academy  of  the 
Arts  of  Design  ;  the  Sketch  Club,  with  its  twofold  character,  and 
other  pleasant  associations  had  brought  the  men  of  letters  and  of  art 
into  closer  social  communion  than  they  ever  had  been  before.  There  was 
then  another  bond  of  union  still  more  potent  than  these.  It  was  the 
New  York  Mirror,  whose  editor-in-chief  and  proprietor  was  George  P. 
Morris,  the  eminent  lyric  poet.  In  its  pages  appeared  the  contribu- 
tions of  all  the  leading  literary  men  of  the  day,  and  in  its  few  illustra- 
tions were  displayed  the  genius  of  the  best  painters,  draughtsmen,  and 
engravers  of  the  time  in  the  city  of  New  York.  The  Mirror  was  the 
most  generous  patron  of  literature  and  the  fine  arts  of  that  time,  and 
had  a  deservedly  high  reputation  and  wide  circulation. 

In  the  opening  number  of  the  ninth  volume  of  the  Mirror  (1831-32) 
appeared  a  remarkable  poetical  contribution,  in  which  the  literati  and 
the  artists  (painters,  engravers,  and  musicians)  who  contributed  to  its 
pages  were  introduced  by  name.  The  poem  was  from  the  pen  of  an 
anonymous  correspondent.  General  T.  S.  Cummings,  who  was  one  of 
the  leading  artists  of  the  day,  and  now  (1883)  one  of  the  three  sur- 
vivors of  the  founders  of  the  National  Academy  of  the  Arts  of  Design, 
is  quite  certain  the  author  was  A.  J.  Mason,  an  Englishman,  who  was 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


24? 


one  of  the  most  expert  engravers  on  wood  of  that  time.  Mr.  Mason 
had  come  to  New  York  in  1829,  and  in  1832  was  chosen  professor  of 
wood  engraving  in  the  National  Academy  of  the  Arts  of  Design.* 

The  poem  alluded  to  was  entitled  "  The  Ninth  Anniversary  :  A  Dra- 
matic Medley  in  one  Act."  The  dramatis  persona  were,  of  Immor- 
tals, the  nine  Muses,  and  of  Mortals,  the  editors,  collector,  and 
"  printer's  devil  "  of  the  Mirror,  and  the  librarian  of  Clinton  Hall. 

Three  of  the  goddesses — Polyhymnia,  the  muse  that  presides  over 
singing  and  rhetoric  ;  Erato,  the  presiding  genius  of  lyric  and  tender 
poetry,  and  Terpsichore,  the  muse  presiding  over  dancing — are  first 
represented  in  a  scene  on  the  Battery,  with  music  in  Castle  Garden. 
It  is  moonlight,  and  they  begin  chanting  thus  : 

"  Polyhymnia.  When  shall  we  three  meet  again 
In  honor  of  the  Mirror's  reign  ? 

Erato.  When  the  present  volume's  done, 
When  the  Ninth  is  Number  One. 

Terpsichore.  That  won't  be  till  June  has  run. 

Pol.  Where's  the  place  ? 

Era.  Within  the  Park.f 

Terp.  There  to  meet  with — 

Era.  M— s.f 

Terp.  Hark  ! 

*  Abraham  J.  Mason  was  born  in  London,  April  4,  1794,  and  became  an  orphan  at  the 
age  of  nine  years.  In  1808  he  was  bound  as  an  apprentice  to  the  wood  engraver,  Robert 
Branston,  for  seven  years.  He  remained  with  Branston  as  assistant  five  years  more.  He 
engraved  on  metals  also,  but  in  1821  he  engaged  in  engraving  on  wood,  professionally,  on 
his  own  account.  In  1820  he  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  Royal  Incorporated  Artists, 
and  the  next  year  was  on  the  committee  of  management  of  the  London  Mechanics'  Insti- 
tution. He  delivered  a  discourse  on  the  history  of  wood  engraving  before  members  of 
that  body,  and  was  invited  to  repeat  it  before  the  Royal  Institution  of  Great  Britain.  It 
was  given  in  the  spring  of  1829,  before  the  literary  men  of  the  country.  In  the  summer 
he  gave  a  full  course  of  lectures  on  the  subject  before  the  Mechanics'  Institution.  In 
the  autumn  of  that  year  Mr.  Mason  came  to  the  United  States  with  his  family,  bringing 
with  him  letters  of  introduction  from  eminent  men  (among  them  Lord  Brougham)  to  Dr. 
Hosack  and  other  scientific  men  in  the  city  of  New  York.  He  was  made  an  associate  of 
the  National  Academy  of  the  Arts  of  Design  in  1830,  and  delivered  his  course  of  lectures 
before  that  body.  In  1832  he  was  chosen  professor  of  wood  engraving  to  the  Academy. 
He  also  lectured  in  Boston.  He  was  an  anonymous  contributor  to  the  Mirror,  and  some 
of  his  engravings  appear  in  that  periodical. 

So  limited  was  the  demand  for  wood  engravings  in  this  country  that  Mr.  Mason 
returned  to  England  late  in  1838.  He  was  a  poet  as  well  as  an  artist.  I  have  a  copy  of 
a  little  volume  entitled  "  Poetical  Essays,  by  A.  J.  Mason,"  illustrated  with  exquisite 
wood  engravings  by  himself,  and  printed  in  London  in  1822.  The  engravings  are  from 
designs  by  John  Thurston. 

f  The  Park  Theatre.  %  Morris. 


248 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Pol.  I  come,  Euterpe. 

Era.  Clio  calls 
From  the  Castle  Garden  walls. 

Alt.  Fair  or  foul,  we  pay  no  fare. 
Hover  o'er  the  bridge,  and  through  the  air." 

Euterpe,  the  presiding  genius  of  music  ;  Thalia,  the  muse  who  pre- 
sides over  comic  poetry,  and  Clio,  the  genius  of  history,  meet  in  the 
Park  Theatre,  while  music  is  resounding  from  Feale's  Museum.  They 
enter  into  conversation  thus  : 

"  Euierpe.  Where  hast  thou  been,  sister,  say? 

Thalia.  Strolling  up  and  down  Broadway, 
Stripping  vice  of  its  disguise. 
Shooting  folly  as  it  flies. 
Paulding  *  now  demands  my  aid  ; 
That's  a  call  I  can't  evade. 
Halleck  f  asks  no  favors,  bless  him  ! 
All  the  sisters  so  caress  him. 
Cox4  you  know,  in  Albion's  isle 
Waits  for  my  inspiring  smile  , 
Thither  in  a  shell  I'll  sail. 
Bannered  with  a  peacock's  tail  ; 
He  will  folly's  emblem  view, 
And  then  he  11  do,  he'll  do,  he'll  do  ! 

Eul.  I'll  give  thee  a  favoring  wind. 

Thai.  Thank  thee,  sister,  thou  art  kind. 

Clio.  I'll  supply  thee  with  another. 

Thai.  I  myself  have  all  the  other. 
Where  hast  thou  been  with  thy  flute  ? 

Eul.  Austin's  voice  has  kept  it  mute  ; 
For  I  cannot  work  such  tones 
As  Cinderella  breathes  with  Jones. 
Brichta,  Gillinghaiii,  and  Knight 
Fill  their  hearers  with  delight  ; 
Feron,  George,  and  tuneful  Poole, 
Pupils  of  a  Sterling  school,  § 
All  have  won  such  high  repute, 
I've  a  mind  to  break  my  flute  ! 

*  James  K.  Paulding.  f  Fitz-Greene  Halleck. 

I  William  Cox,  an  Englishman  by  birth,  who  was  employed  upon  the  Mirror,  and 
made  a  literary  reputation  by  his  contributions  to  that  periodical  and  the  publication  of  a 
volume  in  1833  entitled  "Crayon  Sketches  by  an  Amateur. "  It  had  a  preface  written 
by  Theodore  S.  Fay.  Of  this  work  the  late  Gulian  C.  Verplanck  wrote  :  "  It  is  full  of 
originality,  pleasantry,  and  wit,  alternately  reminding  the  reader  of  the  poetic  eloquence 
of  Hazlitt  and  the  quaint  humor  and  eccentricities  of  Charles  Lamb."  Cox  was  a  printer 
by  trade.    He  returned  to  England,  and  died  there  in  1851. 

§  These  were  public  singers  at  the  theatres. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


249 


All  that  I  can  now  pretend 
Is  these  sweetest  airs  to  blend, 
Copied  weekly  from  the  stage 
For  the  Mirror's  music  page. 

Thai.  Where  hast  thou  been,  Sister  Clio  ? 

Clio.  In  the  classic  isle  of  Scio, 
Gathering  facts  to  form  a  story 
Of  Moslem  hate  and  Grecian  glory  ; 
Present  times  and  former  ages. 
Fit  to  grace  the  Mirror's  pages. 
Buried  archives,  deep  and  loamy, 
Look  what  I  have  ! 

Thai.  Show  me  !    Show  me  ! 

Clio.  Here  I  have  Minerva's  thumb 
Dug  from  Hereulaneum. 

Eut.  Be  dumb  !  be  mum  !    Our  sisters,  come  !" 


Then  enter  all  the  Muses,  and  sing  in  concert.  The  editors  of  the 
Mirror  appear,  reading  contributions  by  moonlight,  and  making  com- 
ments on  them.  They  are  astonished  at  the  sight  of  the  Muses,  each 
with  her  finger  on  her  lip. 

"  They  look  not  like  the  belles  of  gay  Broadway," 

say  the  editors,  and  add  : 

"  As  females  you  appear, 

And  yet  your  silence  baffles  this  idea." 

The  Muses  greet  them  cordially  with  : 

"  All  hail,  M— s,  F— y  *  and  M— s,  hail !" 

They  praise  the  editors,  and  promise  great  things  for  the  Mirror. 
After  that  the  Muses  all  appear  on  the  Battery  m  the  moonlight,  sing- 
ing and  dancing  in  a  frolicsome  manner.    They  chant  in  chorus  : 

"Many  more  volumes  must  this  one  ensue  : 
New  pictures  will  abound, 
And  elegance  surround, 
As  if  in  plates  were  found 
Propagation  too." 

"While  the  nine  sisters  are  dancing  and  uttering  words  of  joy  because 
of  the  success  of  the  Mirror,  Apollo,  the  patron  of  all  the  fine  arts, 
suddenly  appears,  frowning  in  anger.    Thalia  speaks  : 


*  George  P.  Morris  and  Theodore  S.  Fay,  the  joint  editors  of  the  ifirror. 


250 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


"  Thai.  How  now,  Apollo  !  -what's  the  matter  now? 
There  seems  to  be  a  cloud  upon  thy  brow. 

Apollo.  Have  I  not  reason  ?  meddlers  as  ye  are, 
Saucy  and  overbold  ?    How  did  you  dare 
To  trade  and  traffic  after  dark, 
With  F— y  and  M—  s  in  the  Park  ? 
And  I,  the  leader  of  your  choir, 
'  The  bright-haired  master  of  the  lyre,' 
Waa  never  called  to  bear  my  part 
Or  show  the  glory  of  our  art." 

Apollo  orders  the  Muses  to  disperse,  and  meet  again  at  the  Park 
Theatre  at  dawn.  With  Terpsichore  he  ascends  in  a  balloon  to  spend 
the  night  in  the  air  over  "  poets'  garrets."  At  sunrise  the  Nine  are 
seen  in  Clinton  Hall,  and  in  the  midst  of  them  is  a  "  magic  urn,"  into 
which  they  cast  their  contributions  for  the  Mirror — treasures  of  litera- 
ture and  art,  all  inspired  by  their  potent  spells.  Apollo  enters  and 
says  : 

"  O,  well  done  !  I  commend  your  pains, 
For  nothing's  lost  the  Mirror  gains  ; 
And  now  about  the  urn  we'll  sing, 
Like  elves  and  fairies  in  a  ring, 
Enchanting  all  that  we  put  in. 

SONO. 

(irave  essays  and  light, 

Sad  stories  and  gay, 
Mingle,  mingle,  mingle, 

You  that  mingle  may." 

Then  Melpomene,  the  muse  of  tragedy  ;  Calliope,  the  muse  of  epic 
poetry  ;  Crania,  the  muse  of  astronomy,  and  all  the  others  join  in  con- 
cocting the  mixture  : 

"  Pol.  Sedley,  Sedley,  and  his  medley. 

Terp.  Wit  of  Paulding,  sharp  and  scalding. 

Erat.  Verse  of  Palmer,*  that's  a  charmer. 

Melpomene.  Tale  from  Leggett.f  readers  beg  it. 

Chorus.  Around,  around,  around,  about,  about, 
Put  in  the  good  and  keep  the  others  out. 

Thai.  Paulding's  Dutch  and  Yankee  chat. 

Apollo.  Put  in  that  -put  in  that. 

Urania.  Here's  Bulwer's  brain. 

Apollo.  Put  in  a  grain. 

Thai.  Here  is  Cox's  latest  letter, 
That  will  please  the  reader  better,"  etc. 

*  William  Pitt  Palmer,  one  of  the  poetical  contributors  to  the  Mirror.  He  produced  a 
few  charming  verses. 

f  William  Leggett,  then  associated  with  Bryant  in  editing  the  Evening  Post. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


251 


The  librarian  of  Clinton  Hall  enters  with  a  packet  containing  a 
"  bucket-fail  of  sentiment."  when  Apollo  says  : 

"  Pour  it  in,  'tis  Woodworth's *  measure," 

and  Erato  speaks  : 

"  Thus  in  poesy  divine 

Many  a  gem  for  us  doth  shine. 

Sprague  f  our  fingers  shall  inspire 

With  his  grandeur  and  his  fire  ; 

Halleek's  classic  satires  charm, 

Wetmore's  J  mnitial  numbers  warm  ; 

Pierrepont's  §  airs  and  Schroeder's  |  lays 

Cheer  us  on  our  rugged  ways  ; 

Here  with  Brooks's     taste  is  blent 

Bryant's**  heartfelt  sentiment  ; 

Sands'sff  humor,  Whittier' s  :f4  strength, 

Bryan's  charity  and  length  ; 

Pickering,  gg  nature's  simple  bard  ; 

Smooth  and  polished  Everard, 

Willis,|||  delicate  and  chaste. 

Percival, of  classic  taste  : 

Cooper,***  Irving, t+f  Hillhouse,t^  Clark,§§§ 

Nack  mi!  and  all  will  "  toe  the  mark." 

Here  is  Huntley's  TfTfTf  sweetness  stealing, 

Here  is  Embury's  ****  depth  and  feeling  ; 

Thyrza,  Isabel,  and  Cora, 

Hinda,  Jane,  Estelle,  and  Nora, 

Ida,  Selim,  Alpha,  Reuben, 

Damon,  Rusticus,  and  Lubin  : 

Woodbridge,  Iolante,  Delia, 

Mary,  Emma,  and  Aurelia  ;  f  f  f  f 

Bogert  gentle,  Muzzy  tender, 

12^™s  and  ***s  of  every  gender. 

Signs  and  Greek  initials  plenty, 

A.  B.  C.  the  four-and-twenty." 


*  Samuel  Woodworth,  a  printer,  and  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Mirror.    The  ' '  bucket- 
fill  of  sentiment"  is  in  allusion  to  Woodworth's  popular  song.  "  The  Old  Oaken  Bucket." 
f  Charles  Sprague.  \  General  Prosper  M.  Wetmore.  §  John  Pierrepont. 

||  Rev.  J.  P.  Schroeder,  then  assistant  minister  of  Trinity  Church. 


X  James  G.  and  Mary  E.  Brooks. 
**  William  Culler.  Bryant. 
++  Robert  C.  Sands. 
%\  John  Greenleaf  Whittier. 
gg  John  Pickering,  son  of  Timothy  Pickering. 
V|  N.  P.  Willis. 
Iffl  James  G.  Percival. 


***  James  Fenimore  Cooper. 

Washington  Irving. 
XXX  James  A.  Hillhonse. 
ggg  Willis  Gaylord  Clark. 
HI!  .lames  Nack,  a  deaf  mute. 
^fTTH"  Mrs.  Lydia  Huntley  Sigourney. 
****  Mrs.  Emma  C.  Embury. 


t+tf  The  assumed  fictitious  names  of  some  of  the  writers  for  the  Mirror. 


252 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Apollo  speaks  : 

"  Nor  doth  talent  less  abound, 
Nor  is  lesser  riches  found 
In  those  columns  which  compose 
Story  or  romance  of  prose  ; 
Mirthful  sketch,  or  strictures  grave, 
Tales  of  wonder  on  the  wave, 
Told  in  '  Leisure  Hours  at  Sea,'  * 
When  the  wind  is  fair  and  free. 

Erato.  '  Little  Genius, '  f  bright  and  gay. 
From  the  racy  pen  of  F — 3'. 
Critical  remarks  by  B., 
On  dramatic  melody  ; 
In  man's  J  candid  speculations 
On  dramatic  publications  ; 
W.'s  '  each  month  in  York,' 
All  combine  to  aid  the  work." 

Apollo  says  : 

"  Enough  of  letters  ;  now  commence 
A  detail  of  embellishments." 

Olio  begins  : 

"  Here  then,  as  before,  I  place 
Weir's  J5  grandeur,  Ingham's  I  grace; 
Newton's  ^[  truth  and  Bennett's  **  nature, 
Henry  Inman's  \  \  skill  in  feature  ; 
Hoyle's  {J  pellucid  lake  and  sky, 
Fisher's  g£  coursers  as  they  fly  ; 
Architectural  grace  that  shines, 
Bright  in  Davis's  ||  designs  ; 
Cummings's  ^i^J  delicious  bloom, 
Speaking  eye  and  snowy  plunie  ; 
Jarvis,***  Leslie, }\\  Morse,  and  Cole, iff 
Full  of  feeling,  fire,  and  soul  ; 


*  This  is  the  title  of  a  collection  of  poeins  of  William  Leggett. 

f  Under  the  name  of  "  The  Little  Genius,"  Theodore  S.  Fay  wrote  a  series  of  short 
essays  for  the  Mirror. 

1  John  Inman.  **  W.  J.  Bennett,  a  landscape  painter. 

$  Robert  W.  Weir.  f  f  Henry  Inman,  a  portrait  painter. 

I  Charles  C.  Ingham.  JJ  Raphael  Hoyle. 

*H  G.  S.  Newton.  Alvan  Fisher,  an  animal  painter. 

HI  A.  J.  Davis,  an  architect,  who  drew  several  sketches  of  buildings  for  the  Wrror. 
^f^f  Thomas  S.  Cummings,  "miniature"  or  small  portrait  painter. 
***  John  Wesley  Jarvis.  fff  C.  R.  Leslie, 

f  Jt  Thomas  Cole,  the  eminent  landscape  painter. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


253 


Mountain  scenery,  bold  and  grand, 
From  the  pencil  of  Dnrand  ;  * 
Trumbull's  f  patriotic  groups 
And  Revolutionary  troops  ; 
Agate,  J  Reinagle,J$  and  Morse,  I 
Who  teach  the  canvas  to  discourse 
With  a  host  of  names  as  high, 
Which  oblivion  shall  defy  ; 
Forming  each  a  radiant  gem, 
Modern  painting's  diadem." 

("alii ope  speaks  : 

"  From  the  graver's  hand  I  bring 
No  less  rich  an  offering  ; 
Sculptured  on  their  plates,  there  shine 
Form  for  form,  and  line  for  line  ; 
Light  for  light,  and  shade  for  shade 
In  these  picture-gems  displayed. 
All  may  thus  their  beauties  own, 
Kept  before  by  one  alone  ; 
Living  on  such  lasting  plate, 
Though  the  models  yield  to  fate. 
Here  are  Smillie's     force  and  brightness, 
Hoagland' s  **  depth  and  Hatch's  ff  lightness 
Sparkling  touches  by  Dnrand, 
Scenes  from  Smith's  Xt  ingenious  hand  ; 
Balch  g£  and  Eddy,  Rawdon,  Wright, || 
Whose  performances  delight  ; 
Mason,lf^[  Adams,***  Anderson,fff 
With  a  host  come  crowding  on, 
Far  too  numerous  to  name, 
All  whose  works  are  known  to  fame." 

Here  Apollo  breaks  in  : 

"  Hold  !  enough  of  graphic  art  ; 
City  view  and  rural  chart  ; 
Leave  them  all  to  graceful  Weir, 
He  will  see  that  they  appear  ; 

*  Asher  B.  Dnrand  (still  living),  the  eminent  engraver  on  steel,  and  also  a  painter, 
f  Colonel  John  Trumbull,  then  president  of  the  American  Academy  of  Fine  Arts. 
X  F.  S.  Agate.  §  Hugh  Reinagle,  architect  and  painter. 

[  Professor  S.  F.  B.  Morse. 
James  Smillie,  yet  (1883)  engaged  in  engraving  on  steel. 
**  William  Hoagland.  an  engraver  on  wood.  ff  George  W.  Hatch. 

XX  John  R.  Smith,  an  Englishman,  and  teacher  of  drawing.  William  Balch. 

HI  Members  of  the  firm  of  Rawdon,  Wright  &  Hatch,  bank-note  engravers. 
^f^T  A.  J.  Mason.  ***  Joseph  A.  Adams, 

f  f  f  Dr.  Alexander  Anderson,  the  earliest  engraver  on  wood  in  America. 


2oi 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Though  we  highly  prize  such  treasures, 
They  must  yield  to  Music's  measures. 
For  our  spells  are  not  complete 
Till  we  add  our  art  so  sweet." 

Then  Euterpe  speaks  : 

"  Let  the  graceful  task  be  mine  : 
Haydn' 8  splendor  here  shall  shine, 
Handel's  solemn  grandeur  roll, 
Weber's  horrors  fright  the  soul, 
Sweet  Rossini's  strains,  that  move 
E'en  the  sternest  hearts  to  love  ; 
With  the  gTave  Mozart's  combined. 
Here  shall  charm  the  ear  and  mind  ; 
While  a  thousand  more  in  tnrn 
Shall  contribute  to  the  Urn." 

This  little  drama  made  quite  a  stir  in  the  realm  of  letters  and  art  at 
that  time,  and  public  curiosity  was  piqued  because  of  the  mystery  that 
enveloped  the  authorship.  It  was  considered  a  clever  production  of  the 
kind.  Because  it  contains  the  names  of  many  of  the  chief  literary  men 
and  artists  of  the  day  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  because  it  was  one 
of  the  curiosities  of  the  literature  of  the  metropolis,  it  has  been  so 
largely  quoted  from  here.  Doubtless  some  of  the  older  readers  of  this 
work  will  remember  the  "town  talk*'  it  occasioned  at  the  time,  and 
the  numerous  wild  guesses  that  were  made  as  to  its  authorship. 
Mason,  the  supposed  author,  returned  to  London  a  few  years  after- 
ward. 

Among  the  literary  men  of  New  York  fifty  years  ago,  the  most  con- 
spicuous were  "Washington  Irving,  James  K.  Paulding,  Gillian  C. 
Verplanck,  Fitz-Greene  Ilalleck,  William  Cullen  Bryant,  William 
Lenoett,  Robert  C  Sands,  George  P.  Morris,  Theodore  S.  Fav.  and 
promising  Nathaniel  P.  AVillis. 

Mr.  Irving  had  lately  returned  from  Europe  with  a  wealth  of  mate- 
rials to  use  in  his  future  literary  labors.  He  had  added  to  his  literary 
reputation  in  England  by  the  publication  of  his  "  Sketch  Book"  by  the 
prince  of  publishers,  John  Murray,  to  whom  he  sold  the  copyright  for 
&loon.  In  London  he  was  attached  to  the  American  legation,  as  secre- 
tary under  Minister  McLane,  in  1S2!».  Before  leaving  England  the 
I  niversity  of  Oxford  conferred  on  him  the  honorary  degree  of  LL.D. 
lie  arrived  in  New  York  in  May,  1832,  and  was  a  participant  in  a 
public  banquet  spread  in  his  honor  at  the  famous  City  Hotel  by  leading 
men  in  the  city  of  his  birth. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


255 


Mr.  Paulding  was  a  brother-in-law  of  Mr.  Irving,  the  sister  of  the 
former  having  married  the  hitter's  brother  William.  Paulding  began 
his  literary  career  with  Irving  in  the  publication  of  a  series  of  sketches 
which  were  entitled  k>  Salmagundi  ;  or  the  Whimwhams  and  Opinions 
of  Launcelot  Langstaff  and  Others."  They  were  the  joint  productions 
of  Paulding  and  Irving,  and  continued  to  be  issued  periodically  by 
David  Longworth  during  the  entire  year  1807.  These  papers  hit  off 
the  humor  of  the  times  with  great  freshness  and  vigor,  and  were  very 
popular. 

Paulding  was  a  poet  as  well  as  a  novelist.  His  first  poem  was  "  The 
Backwoodsman,"  which  appeared  in  ISIS.  In  1S2<;  appeared  his 
"  Merry  Tales  of  the  Three  Wise  Men  of  Gotham'"'  who  "  went  to  sea 
in  a  bowl."  It  was  a  satire  upon  the  social  system  propounded  by 
Robert  Owen.  It  was  followed  in  1828  by  "  The  Traveller's  Guide," 
which  was  surnamed  "The  Xew  Pilgrim's  Progress."  It  was  a  bur- 
lesque on  the  grandiloquent  guide-books  to  the  city  and  the  works  of 
English  travellers  on  America.  It  gave  satirical  sketches  of  fashionable 
life  and  manners  in  Xew  York  when  to  be  the  mistress  of  a  three-story 
brick  house,  with  mahogany  folding-doors  between  the  parlors,  and 
marble  mantels,  was  the  highest  ambition  of  a  Xew  York  belle.  This 
and  a  half-score  of  other  books  from  his  pen  had  made  Paulding,  at  the 
time  under  consideration,  very  popular  as  a  brilliant  and  entertaining 
writer. 

Mr.  Verplanck  *  ranked  among  literary  veterans  even  at  that  period. 

*  Gulian  Oroinmelin  Verplanck,  LL.D.,  was  for  more  than  fifty  years  one  of  the  best 
known  among  the  literary  men  of  Xew  York.  He  was  born  in  that  eity  in  1786  ;  gradu- 
ated at  Columbia  College  in  1801  ;  studied  law  with  Edward  Livingston  ;  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  in  1807,  and  made  his  first  appearance  in  public  as  a  Fourth  of  July  orator  in 
the  North  Dutch  Reformed  Church  in  1809.  In  1811  he  was  a  principal  actor  in  the 
defence  of  a  student  of  Columbia  College  during  the  commencement  exercises  at  Trinity 
Church,  and  was  fined  by  Mayor  De  Witt  Clinton  for  an  infraction  of  law.  The  matter 
assumed  a  political  aspect,  and  some  of  Mr.  Verplanck's  earlier  literary  efforts  were  in 
the  form  of  political  writings,  the  most  noted  of  which  was  "The  State  Triumvirate,"  a 
sharp  satire  aimed  at  De  Witt  Clinton  and  his  friends.  In  1811  Mr.  Verplanck  married 
Miss  Eliza  Fenno,  by  whom  he  had  two  children,  one  of  whom  survives.  In  1813  he  became 
a  contributor  to  the  Analeptic  Magazine,  edited  by  Washington  Irving.  He  went  to  Etirope 
in  1816,  and  remained  two  years.  On  his  return  he  delivered  an  anniversary  discourse 
r>efore  the  Xew  York  Hospital,  which  gave  him  a  great  literary  reputation.  He  became 
an  earnest  politician,  and  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Xew  York  Assembly  in  1819  by 
the  "  r>ucktail  "  party,  opposed  to  Clinton.  He  was  appointed  a  professor  in  the  Union 
Theological  Seminary  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  In  1825  he  was  elected  to 
Congress.  On  retiring  from  that  position  he  devoted  himself  mainly  to  literary  pursuits. 
In  a  discourse  before  the  literary  societies  of  Columbia  College  in  1830  he  paid  a  generous 


256 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


He  was  chiefly  distinguished  as  an  essayist,  treating  of  literature, 
history,  law,  science,  politics,  and  religion  ;  and  he  was  the  author  of 
numerous  occasional  addresses.  In  1827  he  and  Sands  and  Bryant 
united  in  the  production  of  an  "annual"  (a  popular  style  of  literary 
production  at  that  time)  called  The  Talisman."  It  was  illustrated 
with  engraving's  from  the  burins  of  American  artists.  This  work  was 
issued  three  successive  years,  and  these  volumes  contain  some  of  the 
choicest  productions  of  this  trio  of  writers. 

Iialleck  was  then  at  the  height  of  his  fame  as  a  writer — a  poet,  a 
wit,  and  a  satirist.  A  series  of  poetical  satires  on  town  life  and  char- 
acters— on  the  Tammany  politicians,  editors,  aldermen,  and  local 
celebrities  in  New  York— had  appeared  in  the  Evening  Post  over  the 
signature  of  "  Croaker  &  Co.,"  written  by  him  and  Joseph  Rodman 
Drake  jointly.  These  were  published  in  1819,  and  in  1S21  his 
"  Fanny,"  in  a  similar  strain,  was  published.  These  productions  had 
made  him  very  popular,  and  his  society  was  coveted  by  the  literati  of 
the  day.  Cooper,  often  cynical,  loved  Iialleck.  and  always  greeted 
him  with  pleasure  at  the  Bread  and  Cheese  Club,  and  elsewhere  in 
society. 

The  acquaintance  of  Iialleck  and  Drake  was  begun  under  peculiar 
circumstances.  One  charming  summer  afternoon  in  1819,  Iialleck, 
Dr.  De  Kay,  and  other  young  men  were  standing,  just  after  a  shower, 
admiring  a  resplendent  rainbow. 

"  If  I  could  have  my  wish,"  said  one  of  them,  "  it  would  be  to  lie  in 
the  lap  of  that  rainbow  and  read  Tom  Campbell." 

Another  of  the  group,  a  stranger  to  the  speaker,  immediately  stepped 
forward  and  said  to  him, 

tribute  to  the  character  of  De  Witt  Clinton  (who  died  in  1828),  with  whom  he  so  long 
quarrelled  through  the  press,  in  which  he  said  :  "  Whatever  of  party  animosity  might 
have  blinded  me  to  his  merits  died  away  long  before  his  death." 

Mr.  Verplanck  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate  in  1838.  and  was  a  controlling  power  in 
the  Court  of  Errors.  Through  his  life  he  had  been  a  diligent  student  of  Shakespeare, 
and  in  1847  he  completed  the  editing  of  a  new  edition  of  his  works,  published  by  Harper 
A-  brothers.  In  this  task  he  exhibited  much  erudition.  For  more  than  fifty  years  he 
was  a  trustee  of  the  Society  Library,  forty- four  years  a  regent  of  the  University  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  twenty-six  years  a  vestryman  of  Trinity  Church,  twenty-four  years 
president  of  the  Board  of  Emigration,  an  active  member  of  the  New  York  Historical 
Society,  many  years  one  of  the  governors  of  the  New  York  Hospital,  a  trustee  of  Colum- 
bia College,  a  member  of  the  Sketch  Club,  and  a  working  member  of  the  Century  Club. 
But  while  he  was  liberal  in  giving  his  personal  attention  to  the  management  of  various 
institutions,  he  was  never  a  contributor  of  pecuniary  aid  to  any  of  the  benevolent  and 
charitable  institutions  of  the  city.  He  was  the  inheritor  of  a  liberal  competence,  but  his 
estate  was  not  very  large  at  the  time  of  his  death,  in  March,  1870. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


257 


"  You  and  I  must  be  acquainted  :  my  name  is  Drake." 

"  My  name,"  said  the  other,  "  is  Fitz-Greene  Ilalleck." 

From  that  day  Drake  and  Ilalleck  were  fast  friends.  They  were  of 
the  same  age,  almost  to  a  day — twenty-four  years.  The  productions  of 
the  "  Croakers"  soon  afterward  appeared,  and  created  a  great  deal  of 
amusement  and  not  a  little  irritation.  Drake  died  a  little  more  than  a 
year  after  his  first  acquaintance  with  Ilalleck,  and  was  sincerely 
mourned  by  the  latter,  who- wrote  the  touching  tributary  lines  begin- 
ning with  the  familiar  verse  : 

"  Green  be  the  turf  above  thee, 
Friend  of  my  better  clays  ; 
None  knew  thee  but  to  love  thee, 
None  named  thee  but  to  praise." 

At  the  time  under  consideration  Ilalleck  was  engaged  in  mercantile 
pursuits.  Poets  cannot  dwell  always  in  the  clouds  nor  banquet  on  air. 
He  wrote  : 

"  No  longer  in  love's  myrtle  shade 
My  thoughts  recline  ; 
I'm  busy  in  the  cotton  trade 
And  sugar  line." 

He  was  also  agent  for  the  Duchess  County  Insurance  Company. 

Mr.  Bryant,  then  about  twenty-seven  years  of  age,  had  made  his 
advent  in  the  city  of  ISew  York  in  1825  as  editor  of  the  New  York 
Review.  In  182(5  he  connected  himself  editorially  with  the  Evening 
Post,  and  remained  with  it  as  editor-in-chief  and  proprietor  until  his 
death.  In  1S32  a  complete  edition  of  Mr.  Bryant's  poems  appeared  in 
New  York.  Washington  Irving,  then  in  England,  caused  it  to  be 
reprinted  there,  with  a  laudatory  preface  which  he  prepared.  His 
most  notable  poem,  "  Thanatopsis,"  had  been  written  in  1S12,  when 
he  was  eighteen  years  of  age.  Mr.  Bryant,  like  Halleck,  was  of 
medium  size,  lithe  and  active;  but,  unlike  Ilalleck,  he  was  cool  and 
reserved  in  manner,  and  yet  he  always  possessed  a  quiet  vein  of 
humor. 

Mr.  Leggett,  the  junior  of  Bryant  by  eight  years,  a  native  of  Xew 
York  City,  had  been  a  midshipman  in  the  United  States  Navy,  but  had 
resigned  in  182(5.  In  1828  he  began  the  publication  of  the  Critic,  a 
weekly  literary  periodical,  in  which  the  reviews,  criticisms  of  the  drama 
and  fine  arts,  essays,  and  tales  were  nearly  all  from  his  pen.  It  died  at 
the  end  of  six  months  for  want  of  pecuniary  sustenance.  His  ability 
and  versatility  had  been  so  conspicuously  illustrated  that  in  1829  Mr. 


258 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Leggett  became  associated  with  Mr.  Bryant  in  editing  the  Evening 
Post.  lie  had  stipulated  that  be  should  not  be  called  to  write  political 
articles,  because  they  were  distasteful  to  him,  and  he  had  no  settled 
convictions  on  the  subject,  but  before  the  end  of  the  year  he  became  a 
zealous  Democrat,  and  took  decided  ground  in  favor  of  free  trade  and 
against  the  United  States  Bank.  Mr.  Leggett  died  May  1839.  He 
was  of  medium  height,  compactly  built,  and  possessed  great  powers  of 
endurance. 

Mr.  Sands,  a  native  of  Flatbush,  L.  L,  was  then  about  thirty-two 
years  of  age.  He  had  begun  his  literary  career  at  the  age  of  fourteen 
years.  From  1827  to  the  time  of  his  death,  December  17,  1832,  he 
was  assistant  editor  of  the  New  York  Commercial  Adrertixer.  Guhan 
C.  Verplanck  published  a  memoir  of  his,  with  selections  from  his 
works.  While  engaged  in  writing  an  article  upon  "  Esquimaux  lit- 
erature," f or  the  Knickerbocker  Maf/azine,  on  December  17,  1832,  he 
was  seized  with  apoplexy,  and  his  pencil  dropped  from  his  hand.  He 
arose  to  leave  his  room,  but  fell  at  the  threshold,  and  lived  only  a  few 
hours. 

Mr.  Sands  had  studied  law,  but  soon  after  his  admission  to  the  bar 
he  abandoned  the  profession  and  devoted  himself  to  literature.  One  of 
his  best  productions — "The  Dream  of  the  Princess  Rapantzin" — was 
published  in  the  Talixman.  After  that,  and  while  connected  with  the 
Commercial  Adrertixer,  lie  wrote  several  works,  chiefly  essays,  in  prose 
and  poetry.  In  connection  with  .1.  W.  Eastburn  he  wrote  a  poem 
called  "  Yamoyden,"  founded  on  events  in  the  life  of  King  Philip. 
He  began  the  Atlantic  Magazine  in  1S24,  and  in  1828  he  wrote  an 
"Historical  Notice  of  Ilernan  Cortex."  In  1831  he  wrote  and  pub- 
lished "The  Life  and  Correspondence;  of  Paul  Jones."  His  last  fin- 
ished composition  was  a  poem  on  "  The  Dead  of  1N32. " 

Morris,  the  chief  proprietor  of  the  Mirror*  was  a,  thick-set,  compactly 
built  man,  jolly  in  expression  and  deportment,  with  Hashing  dark  eyes 
and  hair,  florid  complexion,  and  about  thirty  years  of  age.  Fay  and 
Willis  were  of  the  same  age,  within  a  month — twenty-four  years.  Fay 
began  his  literary  life  on  the  Mirror.  Willis  had  written  poetry  while 
in  college,  and  in  ls^s,  when  twenty-one  years  of  age,  he  established 
the  American  Monthl;/  Magazine.  It  was  merged  into  the  Mirror  in 
1830.  He  soon  afterward  went  to  Europe  and  wrote  for  the  Mirror 
the  remarkable  series  of  letters  under  the  head  of  "  Pencillings  by  the 
Way."  Fay  was  tall  and  thin.  Willis  was  also  rather  tall,  lithe,  and 
handsome.  When  he  was  seventeen  years  of  age  Rembrandt  Peale 
met  him  in  the  street  in  Boston,  and  struck  with  the  exquisite  com- 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


259 


ploxion  of  the  young  stranger,  he  invited  him  to  his  studio  in  order  to 
paint  his  portrait,  the  color  of  his  face  was  so  perfect.* 

The  "welcome  and  the  banquet  given  to  Washington  Irving  on  his 
return  from  Europe,  just  mentioned,  was  one  of  the  most  notable 
events  of  the  kind  that  citizens  of  New  York  had  ever  participated  in. 
It  seemed  to  be  a  revival  of  the  glowing  enthusiasm  with  which  the 
corporation  and  citizens  welcomed  the  naval  heroes  of  the  second  war 
for  independence. 

Mi-.  Irving  had  returned  from  Europe  late  in  May,  and  received  an 
invitation  from  his  fellow-townsmen  to  receive  "  a  cordial  welcome  to 
his  native  city"  at  a  public  dinner.  The  invitation  was  signed  by 
about  forty  citizens  prominent,  in  social  life  in  the  city,  headed  by  Pro- 
fessor James  Eenwick  of  Columbia  College. 

The  banquet  was  spread  in  the  great  saloon  of  the  City  Hotel. 
Chancellor  Kent  presided,  assisted  by  Messrs.  Philip  Hone,  John  Duer, 
Professor  Renwick,  T.  L.  Ogden,  Samuel  Swartwout,  and  Charles 
Graham,  as  vice-presidents.  Among  the  guests  were  representatives 
of  foreign  governments,  officers  of  the  army  and  navy,  judges,  Bishop 
Onderdonk,  Lieutenant-Governor  Livingston,  Joseph  Bonaparte,  dis- 
tinguished literary  men,  and  others.  "When  thev  were  all  seated  Irving' 
entered  the  room  leaning  on  the  arm  of  the  venerable  Chancellor  Kent. 
After  the  cloth  was  removed  the  chancellor  arose,  made  an  admirable 
speech  of  welcome,  and  then  offered  the  following  toast  : 

"  Our  Illustrious  Guest  :  thrice  welcome  to  his  native  land." 

To  this  Mr.  Irving  made  a  most  happy  and  feeling  response.  Then 
followed  s}>eeches  by  Philip  Hone  and  the  other  vice-presidents,  each 
offering  a  toast.  The  regular  and  numerous  volunteer  toasts  were 
then  offered,  and  the  company  broke  up  about  midnight. 

A  project  was  set  on  foot  about  that  time  for  the  ladies  of  the  city, 
"  who  had  participated  but  slightly  in  the  pleasure  of  welcoming  their 
favorite  bachelor  home,"'  to  give  him  a  grand  fancy  ball  in  the  autumn, 
in  which  all  the  characters  in  his  works  would  be  represented. 

The  most  prominent  painters  mentioned  in  the  drama  were  Trumbull, 
Jarvis,  "Weir,  Leslie,  Inman,  Morse,  Cole,  Cummings,  Agate,  Durand, 

*  The  writer  of  this  work  remembers  going  on  some  business,  into  the  editor's  room 
of  the  Mirror  (a  very  small  apartment  in  James  Conner's  type-foundry  building,  corner 
of  Fulton  and  Nassau  streets)  in  1835.  Morris  was  reading  one  of  Willis's  "  1'eneillings" 
in  manuscript,  just  received,  to  four  gentlemen  who  were  seated  there.  The  writer  was 
invited  to  take  a  seat.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  reading  he  was  introduced  to  the  four 
gentlemen — Washington  Irving,  Dr.  John  W.  Francis,  Fitz-Greene  Halleck,  and  Theodore 
S.  Fay.  Mr.  Irving  was  much  sunburned,  for  he  had  just  returned  from  a  tour  on  the 
prairies. 


260 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


and  Hoyle.  The  most  prominent  engravers  on  metal  were  Dttrand, 
Smillie,  and  Hatch,  and  on  wood,  Mason.  Adams,  and  Anderson. 

Trumhull  was  a  small  man.  He  was  the  painter  of  four  of  the  fa- 
mous pictures  which  fill  panels  in  the  rotunda  at  Washington,  ordered 
and  paid  for  by  the  National  Government.  They  represent  scenes 
in  the  history  of  the  old  war  for  independence.  Trumbull  was  then 
nearly  eighty  years  of  age.  Fifty-seven  of  his  pictures  are  now  in  the 
"  Trumbull  Gallery  "of  Yale  College.  He  presented  them  to  the  col- 
lege on  condition  of  receiving  an  annuity  of  §1000.  He  died  in  New 
York  in  1843. 

John  "Wesley  Jarvis  was  a  native  of  England,  where  he  was  born  in 
1780,  and  was  a  nephew  of  Wesley,  the  founder  of  Methodism.  Jarvis 
came  to  Philadelphia  when  live  years  of  age.  but  was  a  citizen  of  New 
York  most  of  his  life,  where  he  was  the  leading  portrait  painter  many 
years.  He  was  a  diligent  student  of  all  information,  especially  that 
which  pertained  to  his  calling.  Jarvis  had  a  lucrative  business,  but  his 
extravagant  habits  and  irregular  life  kept  him  always  comparatively 
poor.  He  earned  $6000  in  six  months  in  New  Orleans,  where  he  had 
Henry  Ininan,  his  pupil,  with  him.  He  received  six  sitters  a  day.  A 
sitting  occupied  an  hour.  The  picture  was  handed  to  Inman  to  paint 
in  the  background  and  drapery  under  the  master's  eye. 

Jarvis  was  a  genuine  humorist.  Dunlap  relates  several  stories  illus- 
trative of  this  trait  in  his  character.  Stopping  at  the  house  of  a 
planter  near  Charleston,  Jarvis  perceived  a  dog-kennel  near  the  gate 
at  tin;  highway,  which  was  some  distance  from  the  mansion.  The 
planter  was  absent  some  days,  leaving  the  house  in  charge  of  Jarvis. 
He  painted  on  the  kennel,  in  large  letters,  the  words  "  Take  care  of  the 
dog."  Everybody  shunned  the  kennel,  and  took  other  routes  to  the 
house.  When  the  owner  came  home,  he  too,  seeing  the  wolds  of 
warning,  shunned  the  kennel. 

"  Why,  Jarvis,"  he  said,  "  what  have  you  got  in  the  dog-kennel  '." 

' 1  A  dog,  to  be  sure.    Come  and  see. ' ' 

They  went,  and  the  painter  took  out  of  the  dog-house  a  puppy  whose 
eyes  were  not  yet  open. 

"  Poor  little  fellow,"  said  Jarvis,  as  he  stroked  the  puppy's  back  : 
"  don't  you  think  it  necessary  to  take  care  of  him  ?" 

On  one  occasion,  while  painting  a  portrait  of  Bishop  Moore,  the  prel- 
ate asked  Jarvis  some  question  about  his  religious  belief.  The  painter, 
as  if  intent  upon  catching  the  likeness  of  the  sitter,  said,  quietly, 
"  Turn  your  face  more  that  way,  and  shut  your  mouth."  Jarvis  died 
in  New  York  City,  January  12,  1840. 


FIRST  DECADE,  18C0-1840. 


261 


Weir  was  at  that  time  a  little  under  thirty  years  of  age.  lie  had 
struggled  with  misfortune  in  early  life,  discerned  his  own  genius  for  art 
and  heeded  its  promptings,  had  become  a  pupil  in  art  before  he  was 
twenty,  and  Avas  now  a  successful  practitioner  of  the  delightful  profes- 
sion of  a  painter.  lie  had  lately  painted  a  line  portrait  of  the  Seneca 
chief  Red  Jacket,  and  his  designs  were  the  delight  of  the  engraver. 
Weir  was  not  tall,  but  possessed  an  excellent  physique,  and  was  com- 
pactly built.* 

C.  R.  Leslie  was  Weir's  senior  by  nine  years,  and  was  at  this  time 
teacher  of  drawing  at  West  Point.    lie  resigned  in  1834. f 

Thomas  Cole,:}:  the  fine  landscape  painter,  was  at  that  time  in  Eng- 
land, having,  gone  there  in  1S29.    He  did  not  return  until  1832. 

*  Robert  Walter  Weir  was  born  in  New  Rochelle,  Westchester  County,  N.  Y.,  June  18, 
1803.  His  father  was  a  merchant,  who  failed  in  business  when  Robert  was  a  lad.  He 
was  taken  from  school  and  placed  in  a  cotton  factory.  Afterward  he  was  engaged  in  a 
mercantile  house,  first  in  Albany  and  afterward  in  the  South  and  in  New  York  City.  His 
fondness  for  sketching  made  him  resolve  to  be  a  painter.  He  took  lessons  in  drawing, 
and  made  excellent  copies  of  paintings  loaned  him  by  Mr.  Paff,  a  famous  dealer  in  art 
productions,  which  brought  young  Weir  fame  and  employment.  So,  at  the  age  of  less 
than  twenty  years,  his  art  life  began.  His  "  Embarkation  of  the  Pilgrims,"  painted  to 
fill  a  panel  in  the  rotunda  of  the  Capitol  at  Washington,  is  regarded  as  the  best  painting 
under  the  roof  of  that  building. 

Mr.  Weir  was  professor  of  perspective  in  the  National  Academy  of  the  Arts  of  Design 
(1830-34),  when  he  succeeded  C.  R.  Leslie  as  instructor  of  drawing  in  the  Military  Acad- 
emy at  West  Point,  where  he  remained  about  forty  years  in  that  capacity.  He  has  pro- 
duced some  exquisite  paintings,  remarkable  for  sentiment,  accuracy  of  drawing,  and 
admirable  coloring.    He  now  (1883)  resides  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

+  Charles  Robert  Leslie  was  born  in  London,  October  17,  1794,  and  died  near  that  city 
on  May  5,  1859.  His  parents  were  natives  of  Maryland,  and  returned  to  America  when 
Charles  was  five  years  of  age.  At  six  he  could  make  sketches  from  memory  with  much 
accuracy.  He  studied  art  in  Europe,  and  spent  some  time  in  England  studying  and 
painting.  He  was  appointed  teacher  of  drawing  at  the  Military  Academy  at  West  Point, 
on  the  Hudson.  That  position  he  resigned  in  1834,  when  he  returned  to  England,  where 
he  died. 

i  Thomas  Cole  was  an  eminent  landscape  painter,  a  native  of  Lancashire,  England, 
where  he  was  born  in  February,  1801.  His  parents  were  Americans,  and  returned  to 
America  when  Thomas  was  eighteen  years  of  age.  He  began  portrait  painting  at  Steu- 
benville,  Ohio,  and  in  1822  he  left  home  as  an  itinerant  portrait  painter.  Reing  unsuc- 
cessful, he  turned  his  attention  to  landscape  painting,  and  became  a  master  in  that  line 
of  art.  Enamored  by  the  scenery  of  the  Hudson  River,  all  his  talent  was  drawn  out  by 
the  inspiration.  He  entered  upon  a  very  successful  career.  In  1S29  he  visited  England  ; 
he  also  went  to  Paris  and  Italy,  and  in  1832  returned  to  New  York.  He  finally  made 
Catskill,  N.  Y.,  his  place  of  abode.  There  he  painted  his  famous  serial  pictures,  "  The 
Course  of  Empire"  (now  in  the  gallery  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society)  and  "The 
Voyage  of  Life."  He  left  an  unfinished  series,  "  The  Cross  and  the  World,"  at  the  time 
of  his  death,  which  occurred  February  11,  1847. 


262 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Henry  Inman  had  then  superseded  his  master,  Jarvis,  as  a  portrait 
painter.  He  was  thirty  years  of  age,  possessed  conversational  power; 
of  a  high  order,  and  an  inexhaustible  fund  of  anecdote  and  wit. 

C.  C.  Ingham*  was  a  very  small  and  a  very  active  man,  and  an 
exquisite  painter  of  portraits,  finishing  them  up  with  all  the  delicacy  of 
touch  of  the  small  ivory  portraits.  Durand  was  then  engaged  in  alter- 
nate labors  with  the  brush  and  burin.  Cummings  was  producing  his 
exquisite  small  portraits  on  ivory  and  paper  :  Hoyle,  the  gifted,  was 
painting  beautiful  landscapes,  but  died  a  few  years  afterward,  while 
Agate,  who  began  the  practice  of  the  painter's  art  at  an  early  age,  was 
successfully  painting  portraits  in  Albany,  f  Morse  was  already  a  veteran 
in  art,  president  of  the  National  Academy  of  the  Arts  of  Design,  and 
at  that  time  was  about  to  return  from  England  with  the  grand  idea  of 
an  electro-magnetic  telegraph  about  to  blossom  out  of  his  brain  and 
produce  the  wonderful  fruit  for  which  the  civilized  world  is  indebted 
for  a  great  blessing. 

Durand  was  then  the  foronost  engraver  of  pictures  on  metals  in  the 
United  States,  especially  in  delineations  of  human  flesh,  while  James 
Smillie  was  the  most  effective  engraver  of  landscapes.  Both  are  yet 
among  living  artists.  Mr.  Smillie,  the  younger  of  the  two,  is  actively 
engaged  with  the  burin  at  his  pleasant  home  in  Poughkeepsie. % 

*  Diaries  C.  Ingham  was  a  native  of  Dublin,  Ireland,  where  he  was  born  in  1797.  He 
came  to  New  York  at  the  age  of  twenty,  and  with  his  brother  held  a  front  rank  as  a  por- 
trait painter.  His  "  Death  of  Cleopatra"  gave  him  great  notoriety  and  extensive  busi- 
ness.   He  produced  other  beautiful  compositions. 

f  Frederick  S.  Agate  was  a  native  of  Westchester  County,  New  York,  born  in  1807. 
Showing  a  propensity  for  "sketching  everything"  in  early  childhood,  he  was  placed 
under  the  tuition  of  John  R.  Smith,  a  teacher  of  drawing,  when  he  was  fourteen  years  of 
age.  He  became,  a  pupil  of  S.  F.  B.  Morse  in  painting.  He  began  portrait  painting  as 
a  profession  in  1827,  and  became  an  exceedingly  skilful  artist  in  that  line,  as  well  as  in 
historical  painting.  Mr.  Agate  died  in  New  York  City  in  1844.  His  best  known  works 
are  "  Dead  Christ  and  Mother,"  "  Columbus  and  the  Egg,"  "  The  Ascension,"  and 
"  Count  Ugolino." 

J  James  Smillie  is  a  native  of  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  where  he  was  born  on  November 
'23,  1807.  His  father  was  a  manufacturing  jeweller  and  an  enthusiastic  mineralogist. 
The  son  at  a  very  early  age  felt  a  strong  desire  to  become  an  engraver,  but  did  not  at 
first  receive  much  encouragement  from  his  mother,  for  he  was  only  eleven  years  of  age — 
li  too  young  to  think  of  it.' '  But  the  boy  determined  to  try  his  luck.  He  found  a  silver 
engraver  willing'  to  take  him  as  a  pupil,  and  he  entered  his  service.  This  tutor  soon 
afterward  died,  and  James  found  a  situation  with  an  historical  engraver,  where,  however, 
he  did  nothing  more  than  make  drawings. 

Mr.  Smillie's  parents  emigrated  to  Quebec  when  he  was  fifteen  years  or  age.  There, 
with  very  little  experience,  he  began  the  practice  of  the  art  of  engraving.  He  soon 
acquired  skill  in  cuttiDg  letters,  and  he  set  up  for  himself,  giving  public  notice  that  he 


FIRST  DECADE,  18:50-1840. 


263 


George  Whitefield  Hatch,  then  the  partner  in  business  with  Mr. 
Sroillie,  was  charming  the  public  with  his  delicate  designs  and  rare 
skill  as  an  engraver.  He  had  lately  engraved  en  steel  for  the  Mirror  a 
tine  portrait  of  Washington  Irving,  from  a  painting  by  Leslie. 

Mr.  Hatch  was  a  native  of  Johnstown,  Montgomery  County,  N.  Y., 
where  he  was  born  April  27.  1S04.  A  portion  of  his  early  life  was 
passed  at  Auburn,  Cayuga  County,  X.  V.,  where  he  began  the  study 
of  law  with  his  half-brother,  Enos  T.  Throop,  avIio  became  lieutenant- 
governor  of  New  York.  His  love  of  art  and  his  developing  ability  to 
pursue  it  successfully  so  predominated  in  his  nature  that  with  the  sanc- 
tion of  his  friends  he  abandoned  the  study  of  the  law  and  ever  after- 
ward worked  and  dwelt  in  the  realm  of  art. 

While  yet  a  lad  young  Hatch's  exquisite  designs  attracted  attention, 
and  as  lie  grew  to  manhood  his  skill  with  the  pencil  assured  his  future 

was  prepared  to  "  engrave  spoons,  door-plates,  and  dog-collars."  He  afterward  engraved 
maps  for  the  Canadian  government  so  skilfully  that  he  was  awarded  a  silver  medal 
and  was  made  a  member  of  the  Society  for  the  Encouragement  of  Arts  and  Sciences, 
in  Canada.  He  finally  went  to  England  to  acquire  a  more  thorough  knowledge  of  his 
art.  He  suffered  many  vicissitudes  there,  and  after  receiving  five  months'  instruction 
from  an  engraver  in  Edinburgh,  he  returned  to  Quebec  and  resumed  the  practice  of 
engraving  there.  He  etched  scenery  about  Quebec  and  evinced  great  skill  and  j^i'omise 
in  that  line  of  art. 

In  1830  Mr.  Smillie  went  to  New  York,  determined  to  push  his  way  in  landscape 
engraving  exclusively,  and  succeeded  to  his  heart's  content.  His  first  essay  was  getting 
up  cheap  labels  for  cigar-boxes,  with  Mr.  Gimber,  an  engraver.  There  he  made  the 
acquaintance  of  Mr.  "Weir,  the  painter,  who  engaged  him  to  engrave  a  convent  gate,  near 
Rome,  which  Weir  had  painted,  and  generously  invited  him  to  be  his  guest  and  to  use 
his  studio  while  engaged  upon  it.  He  was  successful.  He  made  the  acquaintance  of 
A.  B.  Durand,  who  engaged  him  to  do  some  work  on  a  steel  plate,  the  first  he  had  ever 
undertaken  on  that  metal.  He  succeeded,  and  Mr.  Durand  generously  gave  him  $10 
more  than  he  asked  for  his  work.  He  returned  to  Canada.  Soon  afterward  he  received 
an  invitation  from  a  New  York  publisher  to  return  and  engrave  views  about  New  York 
for  him,  assuring  him  he  would  earn  $10  a  week.  He  accepted  the  invitation,  arrived 
in  New  York  in  May,  1831,  and  was  not  disappointed.  In  the  fall  he  sent  for  his 
mother  and  her  family.  He  successfully  engraved  for  a  publisher  "  The  Garden  of 
Eden,"  from  a  painting  by  Cole,  and  began  to  engrave  plates  for  the  New  York  Mirror 
and  the  "  Annuals."  He  formed  a  partnership  in  engraving  with  George  W.  Hatch, 
which  did  not  endure  long,  for  that  gentleman  entered  the  firm  of  Rawdon  &  Wright, 
bank-note  engravers.  From  that  time  Mr.  Smillie  was  eminently  successful  in  business, 
producing  the  finest  landscape  engraving  in  the  country. 

In  1831  Mr.  Smillie  was  elected  a  member  of  the  first  Sketch  Club,  was  made  an  asso- 
ciate of  the  National  Academy  of  the  Arts  of  Design  in  1832,  and  an  academician  in  1851. 
He  became  a  member  of  the  National  Bank  Note  Company  in  1804.  He  left  it  in  1868 
and  joined  the  American  Bank  Note  Company,  of  which  he  is  now  (1883)  a  member.  He 
removed  to  the  city  of  Poughkeepsie,  where  he  is  delightfully  engaged  in  the  pursuit  of 
his  favorite  art,  and  has  the  happiness  of  seeing  his  sons  successful  artists. 


264 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


position.  Dunlap  says  he  took  lessons  in  engraving  from  Durand — was 
his  pupil.  At  the  age  of  twenty-five  he  married  Miss  Mary  Daniels,  of 
Albany.  He  had  then  become  a  successful  engraver  as  well  as  a 
designer  and  draughtsman. 

About  1828  Mr.  Hatch  took  up  his  abode  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
where  he  soon  stood  in  the  front  rank  in  the  practice  of  the  graphic 
art.  In  1S31,  perceiving  the  skill  in  landscape  engraving  of  James 
Smillie,  he  formed  a  partnership  with  him.  Xot  long  afterward  Mr 
Hatch  formed  a  business  connection  with  Messrs.  Rawdon  and  Wright, 
bank-note  engravers.  The  firm  of  Rawdon,  Wright,  Hatch  it  Co. 
became  very  famous,  and  for  many  years  they  did  most  of  the  bank- 
note engraving  of  the  country.  Many  of  the  most  beautiful  designs 
that  embellished  the  bank-notes  were  from  his  hand.  In  L858  this  firm 
and  other  engravers  of  later  distinction  joined  in  forming  the  American 
Bank  Note  Company.  Of  this  association  Mr.  Hatch  was  made  the 
president,  which  office  he  held  at  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred 
on  February  L3,  ISfifi,  at  his  beautiful  suburban  seat  at  Dobb's  Ferry, 
on  the  Hudson,  in  the  sixty-second  year  of  his  age.  His  widow  sur- 
vived him  more  than  nine  years. 

Mr.  Dunlap,  in  his  "  History  of  the  Arts  of  Design."  wrote  of  Mr. 
Hatch  in  1834  :  "  He  designs  with  taste,  skill,  and  accuracy.  That  I 
am  not  able  to  y-ive  a  detailed  and  accurate  notice  of  this  verv  estimable 
gentleman  is  owing  to  a  reserve,  on  his  part,  that  is  to  me  inexplicable. 
.  .  .  He  began  a  picture  some  years  ago,  which  has  been  favorably 
spoken  of,  but  he  says  he  shall  not  finish  it  until  he  has  made  his 
fortune.  He  is  a  member  of  the  National  Academy  of  the  Arts  of 
Design,  and  I  have  admired  his  sketches  at  our  Sketch  Club." 

Late  in  life  Mr.  Hatch  went  to  Europe,  where  he  visited  the  most 
famous  art  galleries  in  France,  Italy,  and  Germany.  It  was  a  realiza- 
tion of  a  delicious  dream  of  his  youth,  and  he  returned  satisfied.  In  his 
business  and  social  relations  Mr.  Hatch  was  always  genial,  and  honor- 
able in  all  his  ways.  He  was  ever  ready  to  assist  the  deserving  and 
the  needy.  His  remains  repose  in  a  beautiful  cemetery  at  Auburn,  X.  Y. 
Mr.  Hatch  founded  the  (present  )  "  Hatch  Lithographic  Company." 

"  Mason.  Adams.  Anderson,''  mentioned  in  the  "  drama,"  were  the 
three  principal  engravers  on  wood  then  in  Xew  York  ;  indeed  there 
were  only  two  others.  Joseph  A.  Adams  gave  to  his  work  most 
exquisite  mechanical  execution.  He  was  a  native  of  Xew  Jersey,  but 
was  so  reticent  about  his  own  career  that  no  one  ever  had  sufficient 
materials  for  the  most  meagre  biographical  sketch.  He  became  widely 
known  as  the  engraver  of  the  illustrations  of  Harper's  beautiful  folio 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


2G5 


Bible.  He  spent  many  years  in  Europe  after  1S48,  and  died  about  the 
year  1S7S. 

Dr.  Alexander  Anderson  was  a  most  remarkable  man.  He  was  born 
in  the  city  of  Xew  York  in  April,  1775.  His  father  was  a  Whig 
printer,  and  tied  from  the  city  when  the  British  took  possession  of  it  in 
177t"».  He  evinced  a  taste  and  talent  for  art  at  a  very  early  age,  but 
studied  medicine  and  graduated  at  the  medical  school  of  Columbia  Col- 
lege. He  preferred  art,  and  especially  engraving,  as  a  life  pursuit. 
Having  engraved  about  half  the  illustrations  for  a  book  on  type-metal, 
he  discovered  that  similar  pictures  were  made  on  wood,  and  he 
engraved  the  remainder  on  the  latter  material.  This  was  the  first 
engraving  on  wood  done  in  America.  He  pursued  the  art  consecu- 
tively for  seventy-five  years,  or  until  the  ninety-fifth  year  of  his  age. 
He  died  when  within  three  months  of  ninety-five  years  of  age,  January 
16,  1870. 


CHAPTEE  XIV 


THE  beginning  of  this  decade  was  the  dawn  of  a  new  era  in  jour- 
nalism, not  only  in  the  city  of  Xew  York  but  in  both  hemi- 
spheres. 

In  1827  there  Avere  ten  daily  newspapei-s  published  in  the  city  of 
Xew  York,  of  which  six  were  issued  in  the  morning  and  four  in  the 
evening.  The  morning  daily  papers  were  the  Xew  York  Gazette,  the 
Mercantile  Advertiser,  the  National  Advocate,  the  Da'ihj  Advertiser, 
the  New  Yvrl-  National  Advocate,  and  the  Times. 

The  evening  pa  pel's  were  the  Commercial  Advertiser,  the  Evening 
Post,  the  Statesman,  and  the  American.  Xot  one  of  the  morning 
daily  papers  named  is  now  in  existence  ;  of  the  evening  papers,  the 
Commercial  Advertiser  and  Evening  Post  are  flourishing  in  green  old 
age. 

There  were  seven  semi-weekly  papers  and  sixteen  weekly  newspapers 
in  the  city  in  1827.  The  former  were  issues  of  the  dailies  for  the  coun- 
try ;  some  of  the  latter  were  such  issues,  and  some  were  independent 
publications.  Of  the  weekly  papers  of  that  day,  only  one  survives — 
the  Xew  York  Observer — which  ranked  as  a  "  religious  newspaper." 
There  are  now  published  in  Xew  York  twenty-one  daily  morning 
papers  and  eight  daily  evening  papers.  There  are  eleven  semi-weekly 
papers  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  weekly  papers.  There  are  also  five 
bi-weekly  and  fifteen  semi-monthly  papers.  Of  "  periodical  "  publica- 
tions so  called,  there  are  one  hundred  and  sixteen  monthlies,  two 
bi-monthlies,  and  six  quarterlies. 

It  was  at  about  this  time  that  a  new  power  in  the  realm  of  journal- 
ism appeared  in  the  city  of  Xew  York  in  the  person  of  a  young 
lieutenant  in  the  army,  who  had  lately  resigned.  He  was  then  nearly 
twenty-six  years  of  age. 

In  May,  1827,  a  daily  newspaper  had  been  started  in  Xew  York 
called  the  Morning  Courier.  It  had  struggled  with  adversity  a  little 
more  than  six  months  when,  in  December,  it  was  about  to  abandon  the 
contest  for  hfe  because  of  a  lack  of  money  to  sustain  it,  when  the 
young  army  officer  referred  to  became  its  proprietor.    Signs  of  new 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


207 


life  and  uncommon  energy  immediately  appeared,  and  the  resuscitated 
Courier  started  vigorously  on  a  long  and  wonderful  career. 

Let  us  here  pause  a  moment  and  take  a  brief  survey  of  the  antece- 
dents of  this  young  newspaper  proprietor.  It  will  help  us,  by  an 
insight  into  his  character  at  this  period,  to  better  comprehend  what 
follows  in  an  outline  picture  of  events  at  the  dawn  of  the  new  era  in 
journalism. 

The  new  proprietor  of  the  ( 'otwier  was  the  son  of  a  gallant  officer  of 
the  army  of  patriots  in  the  war  of  the  American  Revolution.  His 
brother-in-law  and  guardian  wished  him  to  study  law.  Though  only  a 
boy  of  twelve  years,  he  said,  decidedly  : 

"  No,  I  want  to  enter  the  army  or  navy,  or  study  medicine." 

"  Out  of  the  question,"  said  his  kinsman. 

Both  were  obstinate,  and  a  compromise  followed.  The  boy  was 
to  try  the  mercantile  profession.  The  experiment  continued  three 
months,  when  the  boy  decided  it  was  a  failure.  His  guardian  insisted 
it  was  too  late  to  make  a  change  ;  the  boy  thought  not,  and  acted  in 
accordance  with  his  convictions,  lie  endured  the  restraints  of  guar- 
dianship until  he  was  about  seventeen  years  old,  when  he  suddenly  dis- 
missed his  overseers  by  a  summary  process,  and  started  out  in  life  free 
and  independent. 

The  lad  was  then  a  resident  of  Cherry  Valley,  X.  Y.  Having  pro- 
vided himself  legitimately  with  means  from  his  own  inheritance,  he 
sent  word  to  his  guardian  that  he  no  longer  required  his  services  as 
such,  and  then  started  for  New  York  City  to  see  Governor  Clinton, 
whom  he  knew  personally.  He  told  the  governor  he  was  on  his  way 
to  Washington  to  get  a  commission  in  the  army,  and  asked  him  for  a 
letter  of  introduction  to  Mr.  Calhoun,  the  Secretary  of  War.  It  was 
given  him,  and  the  youth  went  on  his  way  rejoicing. 

After  reading  the  governor's  letter,  the  secretary  said  : 

"  It  is  impossible  to  give  you  a  place.  The  graduating  class  at  West 
Point  is  very  large— more  than  sufficient  to  fill  all  vacancies." 

Here  was  a  dilemma.  The  youth  had  only  $3  left,  and  too  proud 
ever  to  return  home  if  he  failed.  After  a  moment's-  reflection  he 
asked  : 

"  If  there  had  been  no  graduating  class,  would  my  claims  have  been 
respected  ?" 

"  Certainly  :  but  why  do  you  ask  ?"  Mr.  Calhoun  inquired,  greatly 
interested  by  the  business  view  of  matters  taken  by  the  youth. 

"  Because, "  said  the  lad,  "  in  that  case  I  wish  permission  to  address 
you  a  letter,  examining  into  the  justice  of  the  ground  upon  which  you 


26S 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


have  made  a  decision  which  cannot  fail  to  have  an  influence  upon  my 
future  life."' 

The  astonished  secretary  readily  granted  the  favor.  It  was  in  the 
middle  of  August,  1810.  The  young  adventurer  returned  to  his  lodg- 
ings. The  weather  was  extremely  hot,  but  he  sat  down  to  his  task, 
and  did  not  leave  it  until  it  was  finished.  He  wrote  a  lon£  letter,  in 
which  he  contrasted  the  position  of  the  graduates  of  "West  Point  with 
his  own  ;  they  being  young  men  selected  mostly  from  political  consid- 
erations, educated,  supported,  and  clothed  at  the  expense  of  the  gov- 
ernment for  four  years,  and  having  no  claims  upon  the  country  other 
than  their  fitness  for  military  service.  He,  on  the  contrary,  had  been 
educated  at  his  own  expense  ;  his  father  had  been  a  meritorious  officer 
during  the  whole  period  of  the  Revolution,  and  had  spent  his  fortune 
and  his  best  yeare  in  the  service  of  his  country.  The  young  man 
claimed  to  be  as  well  qualified  as  they,  in  all  respects  save  in  military 
tactics  ;  and  he  proposed  that  a  board  of  officers  should  be  appointed 
to  examine  him  in  all  studies  inn-sued  at  the  Military  Academy,  except- 
ing engineering  and  other  purely  military  studies  ;  and  if  found  com- 
petent, then  he  insisted  that  it  was  his  right  to  receive  a  commission 
regardless  of  the  graduating  cadets  and  their  claims.  The  letter  closed 
with  an  intimation  that  he  would  call  at  the  house  of  the  secretary  the 
next  morning  at  nine  o'clock  to  learn  his  decision. 

The  young  man  called  at  the  appointed  time,  and  was  politely 
received. 

'*  Young  gentleman,"  said  the  secretary,  rather  coldly,  "  I  suppose 
yon  have  come  to  know  your  fate  ?" 

Believing  by  Mr.  Calhoun's  manner  that  the  decision  was  adverse  to 
his  wishes,  the  youth  firmly  answered,  "  I  have,  sir."  The  secretary's 
features  relaxed  into  one  of  his  blandest  smiles  as  he  took  the  young 
man  by  the  hand  and  said  : 

"  I  have  carefully  read  your  letter,  and  you  have  demonstrated  your 
claim  to  be  appointed,  while  the  manner  in  which  you  have  accom- 
plished your  purpose  is  with  me  evidence  of  your  fitness  for  the  army." 

A  long  conversation  then  ensued,  in  which  Mr.  Calhoun  drew  from 
him  an  admission  that  he  was  a  runaway  from  home,  only  seventeen 
years  of  age.  The  secretary  gave  him  a  commission  of  lieutenant  in 
the  Fourth  Battalion  of  artillery,  with  orders  to  report  for  duty  at 
Governor's  Island  in  the  harbor  of  ?sew  York.  For  seven  years  this 
young  soldier  served  his  country  faithfully  and  efficiently,  chiefly  in 
the  Xorth-West,  when  Chicago  was  only  a  military  post  and  a  trading 
station,  and  all  the  region  now  teeming  with  milhons  of  inhabitants 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


2G9 


was  a  solitary  wilderness,  trodden  only  by  the  foot  of  the  barbarian. 
In  September,  1S2T,  he  resigned  his  commission,  and,  as  we  have  ob- 
served, became  the  proprietor  of  a  daily  newspaper  in  the  city  of  New 
York. 

That  energetic  and  determined  runaway,  that  adventurous  soldier, 
that  inchoate  newspaper  editor  and  publisher,  who  was  to  speedily 
revolutionize  the  methods  of  journalism,  was  James  Watson  Webb,  still 
a  tower  of  intellectual  and  moral  strength,  and  wearing  the  snow-white 
crown  of  an  octogenarian. 

In  1826  Mordecai  Manasseh  Noah  *  (better  known  as  Major  Noah), 
who  had  edited  the  Advocate,  of  which  Henry  Eckford,  the  great  ship- 
builder, was  one  of  the  proprietors,  disagreeing  with  that  gentleman, 
started  a  paper  of  his  own,  which  he  called  the  National  Advocate. 
Enjoined  at  the  instance  of  Eckford  and  his  partners,  the  name  was 
changed  to  NoaWs  New  York  Xational  Advocate.  Again  enjoined, 
he  named  his  journal  the  New  York  Enquirer.  This  paper  was  pur- 
chased by  James  "Watson  "Webb  in  the  spring  of  1829,  when  it  was 
merged  into  the  Morning  Courier  and  the  famous  Courier  and  En- 
quirer was  established.  It  reigned  right  royally  in  the  realm  of  jour- 
nalism for  more  than  a  generation. 

Major  Noah  went  into  the  editorial  rooms  of  the  Courier  and 
Enquirer,  and  was  associated  in  editorial  duties  with  James  Lawson, 
James  Gordon  Bennett,  Prosper  M.  Wetmore,  and  James  Gordon 
Brooks — a  notable  editorial  staff  —under  the  control  of  the  masterly 
executive  hand  of  Mr.  Webb. 

A  new  feature  in  journalism  was  soon  introduced.  At  the  opening 
of  Congress  in  December,  1827,  Mr.  Bennett  was  sent  to  Washington 
to  be  a  regular  daily  correspondent  of  the  Courier  and  Enquirer  during 

*  Mordecai  Manasseh  Noah  was  born  in  Philadelphia  in  July,  1785.  His  parents  were 
Hebrews,  and  he  adhered  to  their  faith  through  a  long  life.  He  died  in  New  York  in 
March,  1851.  He  studied  law,  went  to  Charleston,  S.  C,  and  in  that  city  edited  the  City 
Gazette  in  1810.  In  1811  he  was  American  consul  at  Riga,  and  afterward  at  Tunis,  and 
went  on  a  mission  to  Algiers.  On  his  way  thither  he  was  captured  by  the  English.  On 
his  return  to  America  in  1816  he  published  incidents  of  his  sojourn  abroad,  and  became 
editor  of  the  Xational  Advocate,  a  Democratic  journal,  until  1825,  and  the  next  year  he 
established  the  New  York  Enqwrer.  In  1834  he  established  the  Xeic  Era.  Afterward  he 
withdrew  from  the  daily  press,  and  for  several  years  published  the  Sunday  Times.  About 
1820  Mr.  Noah  conceived  a  scheme  for  founding  a  Jewish  colony  on  Grand  Island,  in  the 
Niagara  River.  There  he  set  up  a  monument  inscribed,  "  Ararat,  a  city  of  refuge  for  the 
Jews,  founded  by  Mordecai  M.  Noah,  in  the  month  of  Tisliri,  558(i  (September,  1825), 
and  in  the  50th  year  of  American  Independence."  Mr.  Noah  held  the  offices  of  sheriff, 
judge  of  the  Court  of  Sessions,  and  surveyor  of  the  port  of  New  York.  He  was  the 
author  of  several  dramas  and  other  woiks. 


270 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


the  session.  Hitherto,  with  a  slight  exception,  the  Washington  corre- 
spondent, now  such  an  important  adjunct  to  every  reputable  news- 
paper, had  been  a  member  of  Congress  writing  an  occasional  letter  to  a 
newspaper  in  his  own  district. 

Bennett  was  equal  to  the  task  assigned  him,  and  he  soon  changed 
the  tone,  temper,  and  style  of  Washington  correspondence.  Receiv- 
ing a  hint  from  Horace  Walpole"s  racy  letters  written  in  the  reign  of 
George  II.,  Mr.  Bennett  penned  entertaining  epistles  descriptive  of  life 
at  the  capital  in  all  its  phases — the  legislation  of  the  day,  politics,  soci- 
ety in  general,  fashionable  life,  and  personal  sketches  of  all  the  gay, 
witty,  and  beautiful  characters  which  appeared  in  Washington  during 
that  winter.  These  pen-pictures  were  sketched  at  random  without 
being  offensive  to  any  one — indeed  they  Avere  mostly  complimentary 
and  pleasing  to  the  parties  mentioned. 

At  this  time  the  newspaper  press  of  New  York  showed  very  little 
enterprise  in  the  way  of  giving  news.  It  was  running  in  a  rut  worn 
nearly  half  a  century.  The  then  leading  morning  papers  did  not  con- 
tain, in  the  aggregate,  more  editorial  matter  combined  than  now 
appears  in  a  leading  editorial  of  the  Tribune  or  Times.  A  rowboat 
collected  the  ship  news  and  the  newspapers  from  the  packet-ships  as 
they  arrived,  and  all  were  content  with  transferring  to  their  columns 
such  news  as  they  mutually  possessed.  Conspicuous  for  activity  in 
everything  he  undertook,  Mr.  Webb  was  not  satisfied  with  this  system, 
and  he  very  soon  set  up  a  news-collecting  establishment  of  his  own. 
lie  employed  a  Baltimore  clipper  (the  Eclipse)  and  a  fleet  of  small 
boats  in  collecting  news  on  the  water.  This  compelled  the  other  news- 
papers to  combine  in  a  similar  enterprise,  and  both  parties  kept  a  news- 
schooner  cruising  off  Sandy  Hook,  and  small  boats  communicating  with 
her  from  time  to  time. 

Webb  determined  not  to  be  equalled,  even  in  enterprise.  He  had  a 
clipper-schooner  of  one  hundred  tons  built  in  New  York,  with  the  stip- 
ulation that  she  should  equal  in  speed  any  New  York  pilot-boat  or  he 
could  not  be  compelled  to  take  her.  It  was  accomplished.  She  was 
named  the  Courier  and  Enquirer.  With  this  schooner  cruising  seventy 
to  one  hundred  miles  at  sea,  the  ftl'ipxr  at  Sandy  Hook,  and  a  fleet  of 
small  boats  inside,  all  opposition  was  soon  put  down,  and  the  other 
newspapers  were  compelled  to  purchase  their  news  from  Mr.  Webb. 

Having  achieved  this  triumph  in  the  ocean-news  department,  he  next 
turned  his  attention  to  procuring  early  and  exclusive  intelligence  from 
Washington  during  the  sessions  of  Congress.  Telegraphs  and  railroads 
then  existed  only  in  the  dreams  of  philosophers.    The  mails  then  left 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


271 


Washington,  say  on  Monday  morning,  and  reached  New  York  on 
Wednesday  night  in  time  for  the  news  they  brought  to  appear  in  the 
newspapers  on  Thursday  morning.  Webb  determined  they  should 
appear  in  the  Courier  and  Enquirer  on  Wednesday  morning.  lie 
made  a  contract  with  certain  parties  to  run  a  daily  horse  express  be- 
tween Washington  and  New  York  during  the  entire  session  of  Congress 
(1835-30),  for  which  he  agreed  to  pay  $7500  a  month.  It  was  done 
most  satisfactorily.  Horses  were  stationed  at  points  only  six  miles 
apart.  This  "pony  express"  brought  news  twenty-four  hours  in 
advance  of  the  mails,  and  enabled  the  Courier  and  Enquirer  to  give 
news  that  length  of  time  in  advance  of  all  competitors. 

"  Under  this  system  of  collecting  the  news,"  wrote  George  II. 
Andrews  a  few  years  ago,  "  enlarging  the  paper,  employing  additional 
editors  and  reporters,  opening  correspondence  in  different  quarters,  and 
devoting  whole  columns  to  subjects  never  before  touched  upon  by  the 
press,  the  expenses  of  the  daily  press  were  more  than  quadrupled,  and 
four  of  the  old  morning  papers  died  out.  But  a  new  impetus  was  thus 
given  to  the  newspaper  press  of  the  city,  which  has  continued  to 
increase  to  this  day  ;  and  for  that  impetus  to  an  influence  upon  the 
public  mind  and  the  character  of  the  press,  the  community  are  unques- 
tionably indebted  to  General  Webb." 

For  some  time  the  Courier  and  Enquirer  remained  the  unrivalled 
distributor  of  the  earliest  news  from  "Washington  and  from  Europe  ; 
but  it  was  not  long  before  powerful  competitors  appeared,  and  the 
enterprising  newspaper  which  had  achieved  so  much  was  compelled  to 
succumb.  In  1838  the  first  ocean  steamship,  the  Sirius,  arrived  at 
New  York  from  England,  and  from  that  day  her  successors  brought  all 
the  news  from  abroad  to  the  city  in  advance  of  the  news-boats.  Soon 
afterward  the  telegraph  and  railroad  put  an  end  to  the  pony  express, 
and  now  the  Associated  Press  performs  for  all  alike  the  duty  of  collect- 
ing and  distributing  the  current  news  of  the  day.  There  is  now  no 
field  for  the  exercise  of  individual  enterprise  in  this  direction. 

In  the  matter  of  collecting  news  the  Journal  of  Commerce,  a  morning 
paper  of  the  same  age  of  the  Courier  and  Enquirer,  was  a  sharp  and 
powerful  competitor.  It  too  had  its  news-schooner  and  small  boats, 
and  when  'the  Courier  and  Enquirer  started  the  pony  express  the 
Journal  of  Commerce  speedily  became  its  rival.  They  were  both  com- 
peting sharply  for  the  patronage  of  the  commercial  community.  For 
that  purpose,  and  to  accommodate  mercantile  advertisers  with  adver- 
tisements, these  papers  were  enlarged  from  time  to  time  until  they 
acquired  dimensions  which  caused  them  to  be  called  "  blanket  sheets." 


272 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


These  enormous  and  expensive  newspapers  caused  a  yearning  in  the 
public  mind  for  something  smaller  and  less  expensive.  It  came  to 
be  felt  as  a  public  want.  That  want  was  soon  supplied  by  the  ad- 
vent of  what  is  called  the  "  penny  press."  The  Journal  of  Commerce 
is  yet  a  flourishing  morning  paper  ;  the  Courier  and  Enquirer  be- 
came united  with  the  New  York  World  on  the  first  of  July,  1861, 
when  its  form  was  changed  from  "  folio"  to  the  more  popular  one  of 
"quarto."  Then  that  great  newspaper  disappeared  from  the  field 
of  journalism.  The  Journal  of  Commerce  remained  the  last  of  the 
"  blanket  sheets." 

A  taste  for  cheap  literature  had  been  fostered,  if  not  created,  by  the 
publication  of  the  Illustrated  Penny  Magazine  in  London,  in  1830. 
Large  quantities  of  this  publication  were  sold  in  America,  and  induced 
the  starting  of  the  Family  Magazine  on  a  similar  plan  in  New  York  in 
1834.  The  publication  of  small  cheap  newspapers  was  undertaken  here 
and  there  at  about  the  same  time.  The  Bostonian  was  one  of  these. 
The  Cent  was  issued  in  Philadelphia  in  1S30,  and  in  1832  James 
Gordon  Bennett,  who  had  left  the  service  of  the  Courier  and  Enquirer, 
attempted  to  establish  a  small  newspaper. 

Mr.  Bennett  withdrew  from  the  Courier  and.  Enquirer  in  August, 
1832,  and  on  the  29th  of  October  following  he  issued  an  evening  paper, 
twelve  by  seventeen  inches  in  size,  half  the  size  of  the  other  news- 
papers, called  the  Xew  York  Globe.  He  announced  that  it  would  be 
published  daily  at  eight  dollars  a  year,  that  its  politics  would  be  Demo- 
cratic, that  it  would  adhere  to  Jefferson's  doctrine  of  State  Rights 
(State  supremacy),  would  be  opposed  to  nullification,  and  in  favor  of 
various  reforms  in  the  government.  Bennett  had  then  been  acting  in 
the  capacity  of  an  editor  for  about  twelve  years,  and  he  might  be  con- 
sidered a  sort  of  veteran.    But  the  enterprise  was  a  failure. 

On  New  Year's  day,  1833,  Dr.  H.  D.  Shepard,  with  Horace  Greeley 
and  Francis  V.  Story  as  partners,  started  a  two-cent  daily  paper  called 
the  Morn  inn  Post.  They  had  a  capital  of  K2oo,  and  no  credit.  It  lived 
twenty-one  days,  and  expired.  It  was  the  seed  of  the  cheap  press,  and 
took  root,  though  it  yielded  no  fruit  to  the  planter. 

On  Tuesday,  the  3d  of  September  following,  a  small  morning  paper 
called  the  Sun  was  issued  by  Benjamin  II.  Day,  a  printer,  at  No.  222 
William  Street.  The  enterprise  was  suggested  by  George  W.  Wisner, 
a  compositor  then  working  for  J.  S.  Redfield,  stereotyper,  in  William 
Street.  Wisner  talked  almost  incessantly  about  the  feasibility  of  pub- 
lishing a  one-cent  newspaper.  The  other  compositors  laughed  at  him, 
and  for  a  while  he  found  no  one  willing  to  risk  anything  in  such  a  wild 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


273 


enterprise.  At  length  Day  had  the  sagacity  and  the  courage  to  try 
the  experiment  with  him.  \Yisner  soon  left  Mr.  Day  and  went  West, 
and  the  latter  bore  the  burden  alone. 

The  first  number  of  the  Sun  bore  a  picture  of  a  spread-eagle  bearing 
the  motto  E  Pluribus  Unum,  and  contained  the  following  brief  and 
business-like  prospectus  : 

"  The  object  of  this  paper  is  to  lay  before  the  public,  at  a  price 
within  the  means  of  every  one.  all  the  news  of  thk  day,  and  at  the 
same  time  afford  an  advantageous  means  of  advertising.  The  sheet 
will  be  enlarged  as  soon  as  the  increase  of  advertisements  requires  it,  the 
price  remaining  the  same. 

"  Yearly  advertisers  (without  the  paper),  thirty  dollars  per  anniyn. 
Casual  advertising  at  the  usual  prices  charged  by  the  city  papers. 

"  CEIT3  Subscriptions  will  be  received,  if  paid  in  advance,  at  83  per 
annum. " 

In  a  speech  at  a  dinner  given  to  Colonel  Richard  M.  Hoe,  the  in- 
ventor of  printing-presses,  in  1851,  Mr.  Day  gave  the  following  history 
of  the  origin  of  the  Sun  newspaper  : 

"It  is  true  I  originated  the  Sun,  the  first  penny  newspaper  in 
America,  and,  as  far  as  I  know,  the  first  in  the  world.  But  I  have 
always  considered  the  circumstance  as  more  the  result  of  an  accident 
than  any  superior  sagacity  of  mine.  It  was  in  1832  when  I  projected 
the  enterprise,  during  the  first  cholera,  when  my  business  as  a  job 
printer  scarcely  afforded  a  living.  I  must  say  I  had  very  little  faith  in 
its  success  at  that  time,  and  from  various  causes  it  was  put  off.  In 
August,  1833,  I  finally  made  up  my  mind  to  venture  the  experiment, 
and  I  issued  the  first  number  of  the  Sun  September  3d. 

"  It  is  not  necessary  to  speak  of  the  wonderful  success  of  the  paper, 
At  the  end  of  three  years  the  difficulty  of  striking  off  the  large  edition 
on  a  double-cylinder  press  in  the  time  usually  allowed  to  daily  news- 
papers was  very  great. 

"  In  1835  I  introduced  steam  power,  now  so  necessary  an  appendage 
to  almost  every  newspaper  office.  It  was  the  first  application  of  that 
power  to  move  a  printing  machine  in  a  newspaper  office.  At  that  time 
all  the  Napier  presses  in  the  city  were  turned  by  crankmen.  and  as  the 
iSWi  was  the  only  daily  newspaper  of  large  cumulation,  so  it  seemed  to 
be  the  only  establishment  where  steam  was  really  indispensable.  But 
even  this  great  aid  to  the  speed  of  the  Napier  machines  did  not  keep  up 
with  the  increasing  circulation  of  the  Sun/'' 

One  cent  continued  to  be  the  price  per  copy  of  the  Sun  for  about 
thirty  years.    After  the  Civil  "War  broke  out  the  price  of  everything 


274 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


was  so  increased  that  the  Sun  was  doubled  in  price,  and  so  it  remains. 
In  1838  Mr.  Day  sold  the  San  to  Moses  Y.  Beach,  his  brother-in-law. 
It  had  been  much  enlarged,  but  owing  to  dull  times  Mr.  Beach  cut 
down  the  paper  to  a  smaller  size,  but  enlarged  it  soon  afterward  when 
business  was  better. 

The  Sun  was  made  up  of  twelve  columns,  each  ten  inches  long.  It 
was  a  simple  newsp&per.  It  gave  no  opinions,  no  commercial  reviews, 
no  financial  reports,  and  no  account  of  stock  sales.  It  made  no  special 
promises  of  future  career.  It  had  four  columns  of  advertisements  ;  one 
column  embraced  a  "  New  York  Bank  Note  Table  ;"  two  columns 
were  devoted  to  anecdotes  and  a  short  story,  a  quarter  of  a  column  to 
the,  arrivals  and  clearances  of  vessels  on  the  previous  day,  one  column 
to  poetry,  and  the  remainder  to  police  and  miscellaneous  items.  The 
circulation  of  the  Sun  ran  up  to  8000  copies  daily  by  the  end  of  two 
years  from  its  birth. 

So  soon  as  the  success  of  the  Sun  was  assured  a  plentiful  crop  of 
rivals  speedily  appealed.  Within  a  few  months  the  Man,  the  Tran- 
script, and  the  Day- Book,  and  subsequently  a  Democratic  paper  called 
the  Jeffersonia/n,,  appeared.  Later  the  New  Era,  the  True  San,  and 
the  1I< raid — all  cheap  newspapers.  The  TranAcrigft  was  a  success  for 
several  years.  The  Herald,  published  by  Anderson  &  Smith  and 
edited  by  dames  Gordon  Bennett,  went  down  in  the  great  fire  in  Ann 
Street  early  in  1835. 

In  a  recent  letter  to  the  author  of  this  work  Mr.  Day  wrote  respect- 
ing the  beginning  of  the  career  of  the  Sun,  the  first  one-cent  news- 
paper ever  published  : 

"  Von  will  appreciate  some  of  the  difficulties  under  which  I  labored 
When  I  tell  you  there  was  not  up  to  that  time  a  newsboy  or  newsman 
in  existence  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  I  was  compelled  to  hire  boys 
to  sell  the  paper  and  pay  them  weekly  wages.  As  for  newsmen,  the 
newspaper  carriers  scouted  the  idea.  They  delivered  the  daily  papers 
to  subscribers  only,  and  were  paid  weekly  wages.  My  plan  altered 
that  in  a  few  years."  * 

*  Benjamin  H.  Day  was  born  in  West  Springfield,  Mass.,  April  10,  1810.  The  Days, 
most  of  them  well-to-do  farmers,  were  then  numerous  in  that  vicinity.  His  father,  a 
manufacturing  hatter,  died  when  Benjamin  was  an  infant,  and  was  the  only  son  of  a 
widowed  mother.  He  received  an  academic  education  at  three  different  places,  the  last 
one  in  a  high  school  in  Utica,  where  he  remembers  Horatio  Seymour  and  Judge  Ward 
Hunt  were  among  the  pupils.  Young  Day  was  apprenticed  to  Samuel  Bowles,  of  the 
Springfield  BepubHean  (the  father  of  the  late  editor  of  the  same  name),  where  he  learned 
the  printer's  trade  in  all  its  branches.    In  1830  he  established  himself  as  a  job  printer  at 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


275 


The  first  newsboy  who  sold  copies  of  the  Sun  in  the  streets  of  New 
York  was  Silas  Davenport,  who  was  living-  in  Sharon,  Massachusetts, 
in  1882. 

"We  have  observed  that  the  Herald,  published  by  Anderson  &  Smith, 
went  down  in  the  great  fire  in  Ann  Street  in  1835.  It  was  revived 
shortly  afterward  by  Mr.  Bennett,  who  started  it  with  a  nominal  cash 
capital  of  85»»(),  but  with  a  hundredfold  more  capital  in  the  brains  of 
the  founder. 

The  first  number  of  this  famous  newspaper  was  issued  on  Wednesday 
morning,  May  0,  1835,  from  a  basement  room  at  No.  20  Wall  Street, 
under  the  title  of  the  Morning  Herald.  The  second  number  was 
issued  on  Monday,  the  11th,  and  from  that  time  until  now  its  regular 
issues  have  not  been  interrupted  for  a  day.  In  this  second  issue  the 
editor  promised  to  k'  give  a  correct  picture  of  the  world- — in  "Wall  Street, 
in  the  Exchange,  in  the  Police  office,  at  the  Theatre,  in  the  Opera — in 
short,  wherever  human  nature  and  real  life  best  display  their  freaks  and 
vagaries." 

This  promise  the  Herald  fulfilled  from  the  beginning.  It  exhibited 
the  true  elements  of  journalism — intelligence,  industry,  tact,  and  inde- 
pendence. All  the  brain  work  was  done  by  the  editor.  "  The  leading 
articles,"  says  Mr.  Hudson,  "  the  police  reports,  the  literary  intelli- 
gence, the  pungent  paragraphs,  the  news  from  abroad  and  home,  the 
account-books,  the  bills,  the  clerk's  duties  in  the  office,  were  all 
written,  prepared,  arranged,  made  out,  and  performed  by  Mr.  Bennett. 
The  columns  of  the  little  sheet  were  filled  with  the  peculiar  points  and 
hits  and  predictions  which  have  ever  since  characterized  the  Herald. 
In  one  of  the  first  numbers,  for  instance,  he  said  : 

"  '  The  Xew  York  and  Erie  Railroad  is  to  break  ground  in  a  few 
days.    AVe  hope  they  will  break  nothing  else.'  " 

In  the  second  number  of  the  Herald  Mr.  Bennett  introduced  an 
entirely  new  feature  in  journalism — the  Money  Article.  For  many 
years  these  articles  were  written  by  Air.  Bennett  himself,  and  attracted 
universal  attention.    From  the  15th  of  June,  1S35,  these  articles — then 

No.  222  William  Street,  New  York.  From  his  office  he  issued  the  Sun  newspaper,  the 
first  one-cent  newspaper  ever  published,  and  has  the  honor  of  being  the  pioneer  in  the 
business  of  publishing,  not  only  cheap  newspapers,  but  cheap  literature.  Two  years 
after  he  sold  the  Sun,  Mr.  Day  became  half-owner  of  the  Brother  Jonathan,  a  literary 
weekly  edited  by  N.  P.  Willis  and  H.  Hastings  Weld.  It  was  a  successful  undertaking. 
Soon  afterward  he  was  engaged  in  the  publication  of  cheap  books.  About  the  year  1802 
or  18G:i  Mr.  Day  left  business  with  an  ample  fortune,  and  has  since  lived  a  retired  life  in 
the  city  of  New  York. 


276 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


reports  of  transactions  in  stocks,  etc.,  in  Wall  Street — formed  a  feature 
in  every  issue  of  the  paper.* 

The  New  York  Express  was  established  as  a  "  blanket  sheet"  in 
1836.    The  first  number  was  issued  on  the  first  of  June.    Its  founder 

was  James  Brooks,  f  who  soon  associated  his  brother  Ei'astus  with  him- 

i 

*  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  first  Wall  Street  report,  May  11,  1835  : 

"  MONEY  MARKET. 

"  Stocks  are  somewhat  shaken  since  the  late  arrivals.  The  winding  up  of  three  or  four 
United  States  branch  banks  makes  dealers  pause  as  to  the  future  operations  of  the  money 
market.    On  Saturday  railroads  started  two  or  three  per  cent. 

"  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  and  Boston  are  all  on  the  qui  rice  about  stocks. 
Speculation  in  this  article  was  never  so  flourishing.  The  rise  is  greater  in  fancy  stocks 
or  uew  banks,  such  as  the  Morris  Canal,  Baltimore  Canton  Company,  Kentucky  Northern 
Bank,  and  especially  certain  railroads. 

"What  is  the  cause  of  these  movements?  How  long  will  they  last?  Who  will  be 
losers  ?    Who  will  be  winners  ? 

"  The  uncommon  rise  in  the  stock  market  is  not  produced  by  accident.  A  secret  con- 
federacy of  our  large  capitalists  in  the  commercial  cities,  availing  themselves  of  the 
political  and  commercial  events  of  the  times,  could  easily  produce  the  speculation  that 
has  astonished  the  world  during  the  last  three  months.  It  is  a  universal  law  of  trade 
that  if  an  article  is  made  scarce  it  will  rise  ;  if  plenty,  it  will  fall.  A  dozen  large  capital- 
ists, controlling  twenty  or  thirty  principal  banks  in  the  chief  cities,  can  make  money 
plenty  or  scarce  just  as  they  choose.  When  money  is  scarce  stocks  of  all  kinds  fall. 
The  confederates  bivy  in  at  low  prices  ;  loan  money  to  the  merchants  at  two  and  three 
per  cent  per  month.  This  is  one  operation.  The  next  movement  is  to  set  on  foot  the 
machinery  to  raise  stocks,  which  can  be  effected  by  permitting  the  banks  to  loan  money 
liberally  to  the  merchants  at  large.  Stocks  then  will  begin  to  rise  slowly  at  first,  but 
faster  and  faster  as  speculators  lead  the  way.  When  the  confederates  have  got  rid  of  all 
their  fancy  stocks  at  high  prices  to  merchants  and  small  dealers,  or  anybody  not  in 
the  secret,  then  they  begin  secretly  to  prepare  for  a  fall.  This  is  done  by  a  general  and 
simultaneous  curtailment  of  discounts  by  the  banks,  which  soon  knocks  down  stocks, 
ruins  thousands,  and  raises  the  value  of  money  two  and  three  per  cent  per  month,  thus 
furnishing  always,  either  falling  or  rising,  the  knowing  ones  an  opportunity  to  make  at 
least  thirty  per  cent  on  their  capital  the  year  round. 

"  This  is  truth,  and  we  seriously  advise  young  merchant:;  and  dealers  to  be  careful. 
Who  can  tell  but  at  this  very  moment  two  dozen  large  moneyed  men  in  our  commercial 
cities  have  not  already  appointed  the  very  week,  day,  even  the  hour,  when  a  new  move- 
ment will  commence  which  will  knock  down  stocks  twenty  to  forty  per  cent  a  month? 
When  the  April  weather  is  particularly  sweet  and  soft,  look  out  for  a  storm  the  next  day." 

\  James  Brooks  was  born  in  Portland,  Maine,  in  November,  1810,  and  graduated  at 
Waterville  College.  He  was  for  a  time  at  the  head  of  the  Latin  School  in  Portland. 
Finally  he  became  a  regular  correspondent  at  Washington  for  several  newspapers  during 
the  sessions  of  Congress.  In  18SS  he  was  a  member  of  the  Maine  Legislature,  and  intro- 
duced into  that  body  the  first  proposition  for  a  railway  between  Portland,  Montreal,  and 
Quebec.  The  same  year  he  made  a  pedestrian  tour  on  the  continent  of  Europe  and  the 
British  Islands,  and  published  a  series  of  descriptive  letters  in  the  Portland  Advertiser. 
He  established  the  New  York  Express  in  1830.  In  1847  he  was  a  member  of  the  New 
York  Assembly,  and  1819  to  1853,  and  from  18G5  until  his  death,  in  April,  1873,  he  was  a 


FIRST  DECADE,  1880-1840. 


277 


self  in  the  publication  of  the  paper.  In  the  autumn  of  that  year  the 
Express  united  with  the  old  Daily  Advertiser,  and  was  issued  both  as  a 
morning-  and  evening  paper.  It  paid  special  attention  to  shipping 
news,  and  finally  a  marked  feature  of  the  paper  was  a  list  of  the  daily 
arrivals  at  the  principal  hotels.  Because  of  this  feature  the  Herald 
called  it  the  Drummer's  (lazcttc. 

In  its  fh-st  issue  the  Express  announced  that  in  its  politics  it  would  be 
"decidedly  Whig."  While  the  American  or  Enow-Nothing  party 
was  conspicuous  it  was  an  adherent  and  champion  of  that  party. 
Finally  its  numerous  editions  issued  during  the  day  destroyed  its  char- 
acter as  a  strictly  morning  newspaper,  and  it  was  issued  in  18(54  as  the 
Evening  Express.  By  junction  with  the  Evening  Mail,  in  1882,  it 
assumed  "the  title  of  Mail-Eatress.  Soon  after  the  breaking  out  of 
the  Civil  War  the  Express  became  a  Democratic  paper,  and  so  it 
remains.  The  Brookses  withdrew  from  it  several  years  ago.  Before 
they  retired  from  it,  it  had  assumed  the  popular  form  of  the  "  cheap 
press."  Of  all  the  daily  "  blanket  sheets"  published  when  the  Express 
was  started,  only  it  (merged  with  the  Evening  Mail,  under  the  title  of 
The  Evening  Mail-Express)  and  the  Journal  of  Commerce  now  (1883) 
survive. 

We  have  observed  that  the  New  York  Morning  Herald  was  started 
upon  a  nominal  cash  capital  of  $500,  and  that  for  a  while  nearly  all 
editorial  service  was  performed   by  one  man — the  founder/-  The 

member  of  Congress.  In  1871  Mr.  Brooks  made  a  rapid  tour  around  the  world,  and  an 
account  of  it  was  published  in  a  volume  entitled  "  A  Seven  Months'  Run  Up  and  Down 
and  Around  the  World.'' 

James  Brooks's  brother  Erastus,  four  years  his  junior,  is  also  a  native  of  Portland,  and 
a  graduate  of  Brown  University.  He  was  a  school-teacher  and  editor  for  a  while,  and 
became  associated  with  his  brother  in  the  Repress  as  joint  editor  and  proprietor.  He 
travelled  extensively  in  Europe  in  1843.  Ten  years  later  he  was  a  member  of  the  New 
York  State  Senate,  and  became  involved  in  a  controversy  with  Archbishop  Hughes  in 
consequence  of  his  advocacy  of  a  bill  divesting  Roinan  Catholic  bishops  of  the  title  to 
church  property  in  real  estate. 

*  James  Gordon  Bennett  was  born  in  Banffshire,  Scotland,  in  September,  1795,  and 
died  in  New  York  City  in  June,  1872.  His  parents  were  Roman  Catholics,  and  intended 
the  son  for  the  priesthood.  In  1819  he  came  to  America,  taught  school  in  Halifax,  N.  S., 
a  while,  and  reached  Boston  in  the  autumn  of  that  year,  where  he  engaged  in  proof- 
reading. There  he  wrote  and  published  some  poems.  In  1822  he  was  engaged  on  the 
Charleston  Courier  as  Spanish  translator,  but  soon  came  to  New  York,  where  he  unsuc- 
cessfully tried  the  experiment  of  opening  a  commercial  school.  He  became  a  casual 
reporter  and  writer  for  the  newspapers,  and  finally,  as  mentioned  in  the  text,  established 
the  New  York  Herald.  It  was  the  first  daily  paper  that  issued  a  Sunday  edition.  Mr. 
Bennett  left  two  children— a  son  and  daughter.  To  the  latter  he  bequeathed  the  Herul^ 
and  it  is  still  (1883)  conducted  by  James  Gordon  Bennett,  Jr. 


278 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


marvellous  increase  of  labor  and  expenditure  in  the  field  of  journalism 
in  New  York  City,  and  proportionally  of  its  products,  since  that  time 
— the  lapse  of  less  than  fifty  years — is  conspicuously  illustrated  by  the 
following-  statement,  made  by  the  able  editor  and  successful  publisher 
of  the  New  York  Sun  newspaper,  Charles  A.  Dana.  The  Sun,  be  it 
remembered,  is  the  pioneer  of  the  cheap  press,  and  at  the  time  the 
Herald  was  started  had  a  daily  circulation  of  6000  copies.  This  state- 
ment was  made  in  April,  18S3,  in  response  to  the  inquiry,  "  What  does 
it  cost  to  run  a  first-class  New  York  newspaper  !" 

"  A  first-rate  newspaper  in  Xew  York  will  require  about  ten  edi- 
torial writers,  whose  daily  duty  it  is  to  furnish  leading-  articles  and 
editorial  paragraphs.  Many  of  these  writers  have  their  special  duties, 
but  there  must  always  be  five  or  six  men  who  are  able  to  turn  their 
hands  to  subjects  of  any  description  as  they  happen  to  come  up.  A 
competent  writer  of  leaders  will  be  paid  from  $100  to  per  week, 

and  no  man  fit  to  supervise  them  and  perform  the  functions  of  editor- 
in-chief  can  be  had  for  less  than  from  £li>0  to  §200  per  week.  The 
reporters  are  of  two  classes — first,  those  of  the  regular  staff,  who  are 
paid  by  the  week  at  rates  varying  from  K2n  to  Ktio.  These  perform 
not  only  tin  routine  duties  of  reporting,  hut  are  always  prepared  to  be 
sent  off  upon  special  service,  in  which  case  their  railroad  fares,  carriage 
hire,  hotel  bills,  and  other  expenses  are  paid  by  the  office. 

"  Then  there  are  a  number  of  reporters  attached  to  each  paper  who 
are  paid  according  to  the  work  they  perform,  without  having  any  pre- 
scribed functions,  and  who  must  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to  do 
whatever  may  be  necessary.  Some  of  these  gentlemen  are  men  of 
talent  and  learning,  and  in  time  will  make  their  way  into  the  front 
rank  as  writers  and  editors.  I  know  men  who,  without  having  regular 
salaries,  average  from  s.">o  to  X7">  a  week.  Of  these  two  classes  of 
reporters,  taken  together,  a  first-rate  paper  must  employ  about  fifty. 
Next  there  are  the  correspondents,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  and  these 
are  likewise  divided  into  two  classes,  those  who  are  employed  on  regular 
salaries  and  those  who  are  paid  as  their  contributions  are  printed.  In 
Washington,  for  instance,  each  newspaper  has  need  both  of  regular 
correspondents  or  reporters  and  of  occasional  contributors,  and  the 
different  papers  differ  as  to  the  respective  numbers  of  these  two  classes. 
In  Albany  each  New  York  paper  must  have  its  regular  staff  devoted  to 
its  service,  while  in  the  other  capitals  of  such  States  as  New  Jersey, 
Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  and  Massachusetts,  the  papers  are  served  by  occa- 
sional correspondents,  since  the  news  of  these  more  distant  places  is, 
for  the  most  part,  not  important  enough  in  New  York  to  be  constantly 


FIRST  DECADE,  1880-1840. 


279 


reported  there.  In  Europe  also,  every  leading  paper  has  its  regular  list 
of  correspondents  in  the  chief  cities.  There  must  especially  be  a  corre- 
spondent in  London  and  one  in  Paris  who  report  constantly  either  by 
post  or  by  cable. 

"In  the  Sunday  edition  of  most  of  the  prominent  papers  of  New 
York  City  there  is  always  a  cable  despatch  summing  up  the  news  of 
the  week  and  reporting  interesting  political,  social,  artistic,  or  literary 
events  on  which  the  reporters  of  the  Associated  Press,  whose  telegrams 
are  forwarded  every  day,  do  not  ordinarily  dwell.  Thus  the  expenses 
of  the  sort  of  papers  we  are  considering  vary  for  the  most  part  mainly 
according  as  they  print  large  or  small  editions,  their  chief  difference 
being  in  their  consumption  of  white  paper.  Of  this  the  Herald  uses 
more  than  any  other  journal.  On  Sunday  especially  its  advertising 
sheets  are  many,  and  on  that  day  it  will  sometimes  print  130  columns 
of  advertisements  alone,  so  that  the  amount  of  white  paper  it  uses  is 
enormous. 

"  But  apart  from  this  item,  the  expenses  of  one  of  these  papers  for 
the  editorial  department,  including  writers,  reporters,  and  correspond- 
ents, will  be  from  $1000  to  §5000  per  week,  and  its  ordinary  telegraph 
bills,  including  the  cost  of  special  cables  from  Europe,  will  average 
perhaps  from  $700  to  §1000  a  week  ;  its  composition  bills  will  vary 
from  §1000  to  §2000  ;  its  publication  department  will  cost  from  §1000 
to  $2000  ;  its  stereotyping  will  be  perhaps  §500,  and  its  miscellaneous 
expenses  from  §1000  to  §2000,  making  a  total  of  from  §9000  to  §12,000 
a  week.  Of  course  these  figures  will  be  a  little  less  in  dull  times,  when 
there  is  little  telegraphing  and  no  occasion  for  special  expenditures,  than 
when  there  is  a  great  public  excitement,  such  as  a  presidential  canvass 
or  a  great  public  catastrophe,  when  it  is  necessary  to  send  many  men 
out  and  spend  a  great  deal  of  money  in  obtaining  news  ;  but  the  gen- 
eral average  will  be  about  what  I  have  stated." 

Of  the  fifteen  daily  newspapers  printed  in  New  York  on  the  first  of 
May,  1835,  or  less  than  fifty  years  ago,  one  only  (the  Sim)  had  a  daily 
circulation  of  6000.  All  the  others  were  far  below  5000,  and  one  was 
not  more  than  500.  "  It  was  estimated/ '  says  Hudson,  "  that  the 
average  daily  circulation  of  the  'sixpenny  sheets'  was  1700  only."* 
New  York  at  that  time  contained  a  population  of  270,000. 

The  New  York  Weekly  Mirror  was  the  only  true  representative  of 
the  literature  and  art  of  the  city  of  New  York  at  the  beginning  of  this 
decade.    It  was  founded  in  1S22  by  Samuel  Wood  worth,  a  printer  and 


*  "  Journalism  in  the  United  States  from  1G90  to  1872,"  by  Frederic  Hudson,  p.  431. 


280 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


poet,  and  George  P.  Morris,  a  young  poet  twenty-two  years  of  age. 
It  very  soon  took  a  high  position  as  a  generous  patron  of  literature  and 
art,  and  attracted  to  its  columns  the  choicest  contributions  from 
authors,  artists,  and  musicians,  as  has  been  observed  in  a  former  chap- 
ter. It  held  this  lofty  position  for  twenty  years.  It  was  a  literary 
institution  of  the  country.  In  1842  it  was  suspended,  but  was  revived 
the  next  year.  At  an  early  period  in  its  history  Woodworth  with- 
drew, and  X.  P.  "Willis  took  his  place. 

The  Family  Magazine  was  begun  in  the  city  of  New  York  in  1834, 
and  flourished  for  eight  years.  It  was  always  a  paying  enterprise,  but 
not  largely  so.  It  was  the  first  illustrated  magazine  published  in  this 
country.  Its  engravings  were  all  done  on  wood,  and  it  was  an  imitator 
of  the  London  Penny  Magazine. 

This  periodical  was  established  by  the  Pew  Origen  Pacheler,  who 
was  better  known  as  a  book  canvasser  than  as  a  preacher.  He  edited 
and  published  the  work,  canvassing  for  subscribers  to  it,  and  receiving 
one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  for  one  year,  payable  in  advance,  for  each 
subscriber.  It  being  a  novelty,  he  soon  obtained  a  respectable  list  of 
subscribers. 

Finally,  its  circulation  did  not  increase,  and  having  no  capital, 
Bachelor  turned  the  publication  over  to  Justus  S.  Pedfield,  the  stereo- 
typer  of  the  work,  who  was  his  principal  creditor.  Mr.  Redfield 
assumed  its  publication  and  Pacheler  edited  it  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  soon  after  this  change. 

Dr.  A.  S.  Doane  succeeded  Pacheler  as  editor,  and  conducted  the 
magazine  for  several  years,  until  appointed  health  officer  at  Quarantine, 
when  he  was  succeeded,  temporarily,  by  Thomas  Allen,  afterward  the 
editor  of  the  Jfa(h'.so/u'an  at  Washington,  and  who  more  recently 
ranked  ainong  the  raihvav  magnates  of  the  countrv.  In  1840  Pen- 
son  J.  Lossing  became  the  editor  of  the  magazine,  and  executed  the 
engravings  for  it.  It  was  discontinued  at  the  close  of  the  eighth 
volume. 

It  was  early  in  this  decade  that  the  two  most  extensive  publishing 
houses  in  the  city  of  New  York  in  1883  began  to  take  an  important 
position  in  the  realm  of  literature.  These  are  the  houses  of  Harper  & 
Profilers  and  Daniel  Appleton  it  Company.  The  former  takes  prec- 
edence in  point  of  time,  that  of  Harper  &  Brothers  beginning  business 
in  the  city  of  New  York  in  1817,  and  Daniel  Appleton  &  Company  in 
1825.  The  former  was  established  by  James  and  John  Harper,  sons  of 
a  Long  Island  farmer.  Both  had  been  apprentices  to  different  persons 
in  New  York  to  learn  the  art  of  printing. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


281 


"When  the  brothers  had  readied  manhood  they  joined  interests  and 
began  business  for  themselves  by  setting  up  a  small  book  and  job  print- 
ing- offi.ee  in  Dover  Street,  in  New  York,  not  far  from  the  great  estab- 
lishment of  Harper  cV:  Brothel's  at  the  present  time.  It  was  an  auspi- 
cious time  for  them,  as  with  the  return  of  prosperity  after  the  war  of 
1813-15  there  was  a  great  demand  for  books.  Evart  A.  Duvckinck 
was  then  a  prosperous  bookseller  in  Xew  York,  and  he  employed 
"  J.  &  J.  Harper"  to  print  the  first  book  that  was  issued  from  their 
press.  In  August,  1817,  they  delivered  to  him  two  thousand  copies  of 
a  translation  of  Seneca's  "  Morals,"  which  they  had  "  composed  "  and 
printed  with  their  own  hands.  In  the  winter  of  1S18  they  resolved  to 
print  a  book  on  their  own  account.  They  first  ascertained  from  lead- 
ing booksellers  how  many  copies  each  one  would  purchase  from  them  in 
sheets.  In  April  they  issued  five  hundred  copies  of  a  reprint  of  Locke's 
"  Essay  on  the  Human  Understanding,"  with  the  imprint  of  J.  &  J. 
Harper. 

Joseph  Wesley  and  Fletcher,  two  younger  brothers,  who  had  learned 
the  printer's  trade  with  James  and  John,  became  partners  with  the 
elder  ones,  the  former  in  1823  and  the  latter  in  1826.  Then  was 
organized  the  firm  of  "  Harper  &  Brothers,"  which  continued  forty- 
three  years  without  interruption,  when  the  senior  partner  of  the  house 
was  suddenly  separated  from  it  by  death.  The  brothel's  had  estab- 
lished themselves  in  Cliff  Street,  and  when  the  youngest  entered  the 
firm  they  were  employing  fifty  persons  and  ten  hand-presses.  This 
was  then  the  largest  printing  establishment  in  Xew  York. 

At  the  end  of  nine  years  after  J.  &  J.  Harper  began  business  they 
purchased  the  building  on  Cliff  Street  in  which  they  were  established. 
They  began  to  stereotype  their  works  in  1830,  and  led  the  way  to  the 
production  of  cheap  books  and  the  creation  of  a  new  army  of  readers. 
They  continually  enlarged  their  business,  purchasing  building  after 
building  on  Cliff  Street,  and  had  erected  a  fine  structure  on  Franklin 
Square,  connecting  with  those  on  Cliff  Street  (altogether  nine  in  num- 
ber), when,  at  midday  on  December  9,  1S53,  the  whole  establishment 
was  laid  in  ashes,  the  fire  occurring  from  an  unfortunate  mistake  of  a 
plumber  at  work  in  the  building.  Their  total  loss  was  very  heavy,  but 
very  soon  the  present  magnificent  structures  arose  out  of  the  ruins. 
These  consist  of  an  immense  building  of  iron  on  Franklin  Square,  five 
stories  in  height,  with  cellar  and  subcellar,  and  another  on  Cliff  Street, 
in  the  rear  of  the  Franklin  Square  edifice,  built  of  brick  and  six  stories 
in  height,  with  a  basement  used  for  press-work.  These  buildings  are 
connected  by  iron  bridges  at  each  story,  which  terminate  at  an  iron 


282 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


spiral  staircase  in  a  round  tower  in  the  centre  of  the  court  between  the 
two  main  structures. 

Harper  tfc  Brothers'  establishment  is  thoroughly  equipped  with  im- 
proved machinery  and  materials  of  every  kind  for  carrying  on  the  pub- 
lishing business,  from  setting  up  the  type  from  manuscript  copy  and 
stereotyping  to  the  finishing  of  the  complete  book  for  the  reader. 
About  one  thousand  persons— men  and  women,  girls  and  boys — are 
employed  in  the  establishment.  Besides  their  immense  issue  of  bound 
books  and  large  pamphlets,  under  the  title  of  the  "Franklin  Square 
Library,"  they  publish  four  illustrated  periodicals.  In  1850  they 
began  the  publication  of  Harper's  New  Monthly  Magazine,  which  has 
ever  since  held  the  position  of  a  leader  among  the  periodical  literature 
of  the  day.  It  has  now  attained  a  circulation  in  this  country  and  in 
England  of  nearly  i>»  n >,<  m  m »  copies  a  month.  Harper's  Weekly.,  an  illus- 
trated paper,  was  begun  in  January,  1857  ;  Harper's  Bazair,  a  beauti- 
fully illustrated  repository  of  knowledge,  of  current  fashions,  and  gen- 
eral literature,  was  begun  late  in  ls<;7,  and  Harper's  Young  People, 
an  illustrated  weekly  paper  of  smaller  dimensions  for  the  class  men- 
tioned in  its  title,  was  begun  in  November,  1880. 

To  supply  these  periodicals  with  illustrations  they  have  an  art  depart- 
ment, composed  of  draughtsmen  and  many  engravers,  and  much  art 
work  is  done  outside. 

The  four  brothers — James,  John,  Joseph  Wesley,  and  Fletcher — 
have  passed  from  among  the  living,  and  the  great  establishment,  con- 
stantly increasing  in  the  bulk  and  prosperity  of  business,  is  conducted 
by  five  sons  and  one  grandson  of  the  founders  of  the  house,  with  great 
ability  and  success.  To  give  an  idea  of  the  magnitude  of  the  business 
of  the  great  publishing  house  it  may  be  stated  that  the  white  paper 
used  in  their  business  costs  over  s2<»oo  a  day  for  every  working  day  in 
the  year.  The  four  brothers  were  born  at  Newtown,  L.  I.  James 
was  born  on  the  13th  of  April,  1705,  and  died  on  the  27th  of  March, 
1869.  He  was  at  one  time  mayor  of  the  city  of  New  York.  John 
was  born  on  the  22d  of  January,  1707,  and  died  on  the  22d  of  April, 
1875.  Joseph  Wesley  was  born  on  the  25th  of  December,  1801,  and 
died  February  14,  1*7<>.  Fletcher  was  born  on  the  31st  of  January, 
1606,  and  died  on  the  20th  of  May,  1877. 

The  publishing  house  of  Daniel  Appleton  &  Company  was  founded 
in  1825.  The  founder,  Daniel  Appleton,  whose  name  is  still  retained 
in  the  firm,  was  a  native  of  Haverhill.  Massachusetts,  and  was  born 
December  10,  1785.  There  he  began  his  business  life  as  a  retail  mer- 
chant.   Afterward  he  was  a  dealer  in  dry  goods  in  Boston,  and  in  1825 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


283 


lie  went  to  New  York  for  the  purpose  of  engaging  in  the  book  trade. 
He  opened  a  store  in  Exchange  Place,  then  a  fashionable  section  of  the 
business  of  the  city,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  elegant  private  residences, 
lie  dealt  chiefly  in  foreign  books,  and  catered  to  the  best  literary  taste 
of  the  day. 

The  brother-in-law  of  Mr.  Appleton,  Jonathan  Leavitt,  a  skilful 
bookbinder,  joined  him  in  business  under  terms  of  a  partnership  limited 
to  live  years.  The  store  and  bindery  were  subsequently  removed  to 
Broadway,  corner  of  John  Street,  where  the  bookselling  department; 
was  placed  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Appleton's  son,  William  II.  Appleton, 
the  present  head  of  the  house.  On  the  expiration  of  the  partnership  of 
Appleton  &  Leavitt,  in  1830,  Mr.  Appleton  withdrew  and  established 
himself  as  a  bookseller  in  Clinton  Hall,  on  Beekman  Street,  between 
Nassau  Street  and  Theatre  Alley. 

Mr.  Appleton  had  been  very  successful  in  his  undertakings,  and  now 
he  determined  to  venture  upon  the  career  of  a  publisher.  The  first 
book  bearing  his  imprint  was  a  small  volume  of  Bible  texts,  entitled, 
"  Crumbs  from  the  Master's  Table  ;  or  Select  Sentences,  Doctrinal, 
Practical,  and  Experimental,"  by  W.  Mason.  It  was  only  three  inches 
square  and  half  an  inch  thick,  and  contained  only  192  pages.  It  gave 
the  firm  great  anxiety,  but  about  one  thousand  copies  were  sold.  The 
"Crumbs"  was  followed  by  two  other  small  religious  books,  the  last 
one  in  1832,  the  year  when  the  city  of  New  York  and  other  places 
were  dreadfully  ravaged  by  the  cholera.  The  book  was  entitled,  "  A 
Refuge  in  Time  of  Plague  and  Pestilence."  It  was  published  at  an 
auspicious  moment,  for  the  public  mistook  it  for  a  treatise  on  cholera, 
and  it  had  an  enormous  sale. 

Mr.  Appleton  did  not  venture  largely  into  the  publishing  business  for 
a  long  time.  English  and  German  books  sold  readily,  and  he  made  the 
importation  and  sale  of  them  a  specialty.  In  1835  W.  II.  Appleton, 
then  twenty-one  years  of  age,  was  sent  to  England  and  Germany  to 
look  after  importing  interests  there,  and  soon  afterward  a  London 
branch  of  the  house  was  established,  and  has  been  continued  ever  since. 

In  1838  William  II.  Appleton  became  the  business  partner  of  his 
father.  The  store  was  then  removed  to  Xo.  200  Broadway.  Ten 
years  later  the  founder  of  the  house  retired  from  business,  and  died  in 
Xew  York  a  few  months  afterward.  That  event  occurred  on  March 
27,  1S49.  He  had  expressed  a  desire  that  his  name  might  be  connected 
with  the  house  as  long  as  possible,  for  he  had  a  clear  perception  of  its 
future  growth,  and  he  was  proud  of  the  prospei'ous  establishment  which 
he  had  founded.    His  son  promised  him  that  no  note  or  check  of  the 


284 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


firm  should  ever  be  signed,  while  he  lived,  without  the  full  name, 
Daniel  Appleton  &  Company.    That  promise  has  been  sacredly  kept. 

Mr.  Appleton  was  a  conspicuously  honorable  and  honest  man,  and 
despised  mean  things.  He  was  sometimes  reticent  and  often  a  little 
brusque  in  his  intercourse  with  men,  but  he  possessed  a  kind  and 
genial  nature,  true  courtesy,  and  many  fine  personal  qualities,  which 
endeared  him  to  his  family  and  friends. 

After  Mr.  Appleton's  death  the  house  was  reorganized  with  William 
II.  Appleton  at  the  head,  and  his  brothel's  John  A.  and  Daniel  Sidney 
associated  with  him  ;is  part  nets.  The  business  of  the  establishment 
increased  rapidly.  They  imported  books,  they  published  books,  and 
they  sold  books  with  ever- increasing  expansion  of  their  business.  Their 
list  of  publications  soon  included  all  the  standard  works  of  American 
and  foreign  authors. 

With  the  northward  extension  of  the  city  the  house  of  Daniel 
Appleton  &  Company  has  gradually  moved  up  town  until,  after  five 
removals  after  leaving  No.  2<mi  Broadway,  it  now  seems  permanently 
located  in  a  spacious  building,  six  stories  in  height,  at  Nos.  1,  ?>,  and  ."> 
Bond  Street,  near  Broadway.  Of  this  building  the  Appletons  occupy 
two  floors  and  two  basements.  The  retail  business  of  the  house  was 
abandoned  when  they  took  possession  of  the  present  premises  in  1880. 

In  ls»'>.*)  (ieorge  S.  Appleton,  a  brother  of  the  other  members  of  the 
firm,  came  into  the  partnership.  His  exquisite  taste  and  dee])  interest 
in  art  caused  the  house  to  undertake  beautifully  illustrated  books,  which 
soon  became  a  marked  feature  of  their  publications.  He  died  in  1*7^. 
In  July,  lssi,  another  brother  and  member  of  the  firm,  John  A. 
Appleton,  departed  tins  life.  Of  him  it  might  be  truthfully  said,  in 
the  beautiful  words  of  Ilalleck  : 

"  None  knew  him  but  to  love  him, 
None  named  him  tmt  to  praise." 

The  members  of  the  firm  now  (1883)  are  W.  II.  Appleton,  Daniel  S. 
Appleton,  William  W.  Appleton  (son  of  W.  II.  Appleton),  and  Daniel, 
son  of  the  late  John  A.  Appleton. 

The  publications  of  the  Appletons  now  embrace  the  whole  range  of 
human  knowledge,  from  the  small  text-book  and  railway  guide  to  the 
most  elaborate  and  abstruse;  philosophical  treatise.  Some  of  their  pub- 
lications are  superb  specimens  of  art.  The  most  costly  publications  are 
undertaken  without  hesitation,  caution  and  enterprise  going  hand  in 
hand  in  their  mode  of  conducting  business.  Their  ventures,  as  a  rule, 
have  been  successful. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


285 


In  order  to  give  an  idea  of  the  extent  of  the  business  of  this  estab- 
lishment it  may  be  stated  that  the  cost  of  the  white  paper  alone 
required  for  their  use  averages  fully  $1000  for  each  working  day  in  the 
year. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  a  consideration  of  some  of  the  most  important 
current  events  in  the  city  of  Xew  York  doling  the  first  decade. 


CHAFTER  XV. 


THE  long-suppressed  discontent  of  the  people  of  France  under  the 
rule  of  their  Bourbon  king,  Charles  X.,  finally  led  to  a  short, 
sharp,  and  decisive  revolution  that  overturned  a  dynasty  forever.  The 
people  had  observed  with  uneasiness  the  gradual  abridgment  of  their 
liberties,  and  the  silent  but  sure  growth  of  absolutism  fostered  by  the 
monarch.  lie  was  not  only  disposed  to  be  tyrannical,  but  was  faith- 
less. His  promises  were  made  with  an  evident  intention  to  violate 
them.  In  March,  1830,  the  king  made  a  threatening  speech  to  the 
representatives  of  the  people.  In  July  he  signed  an  ordinance  to  pat 
an  end  to  the  freedom  of  the  press,  and  dissolved  a  recently  elected 
Chamber  of  Deputies.  These  acts  unloosed  the  pent-up  tempest  of 
popular  indignation.  The  people  (tf  Paris  flew  to  arms  and  drove  the 
monarch  from  his  throne,  and  Louis  Philippe,  Duke  of  Orleans,  was 
seated  in  his  place. 

This  revolution,  so  speedily  and  so  effectually  accomplished,  enlisted 
the  sympathies  of  all  lovers  of  freedom.  It  especially  stirred  the  feel- 
ings of  the  American  people,  for  it  was  the  fruit  of  their  own  acts  in 
the  past  and  in  the  present.  Xor  could  that  sympathy  be  confined  to 
mere  emotions  and  words  ;  it  finally  culminated  in  a  <rrand  public 
demonstration  in  the  city  of  New  York  in  the  autumn  of  1830. 

A  meeting  was  held  at  the  "Westchester  House,  on  October  5th, 
18.30,  at  which  the  following  resolution  was  passed  : 

"Hesolved,  That  this  meeting  cannot  but  express  their  admiration 
and  esteem  for  the  brave  and  magnanimous  daring  of  their  brother 
mechanics  and  workingmen  of  Paris,  who.  rising  in  their  strength, 
regardless  of  consequences  to  themselves,  nobly  burst  asunder  the 
chains  which  an  ignorant  and  bigoted  aristocracy  had  forged  to  subvert 
the  rights  and  liberties  of  France." 

These  workingmen  had  come  together  for  the  avowed  purpose  of 
taking  into  consideration  the  "  propriety  of  celebrating  the  late  glori- 
ous revolution  in  France.'''  After  adopting  the  above  resolution,  they 
appointed  a  committee  composed  of  one  from  each  ward  to  "  prepare 
an  address  and  a  call  for  a  public  meeting,  for  the  purpose  of  congratu- 


FIRST  DECADE,  1880-1840. 


287 


fating  the  'glorious  Parisian  populace"  on  the  happy  result  of  their 
noble  devotion  and  sacrifices  to  the  cause  of  the  liberties  of  mankind."1 

At  a  meeting  held  on  November  8  it  was  resolved  to  divest  the 
affair  of  all  party  feeling,  and  the  committee  was  increased  by  the 
addition  of  the  names  of  about  two  hundred  and  sixty  of  the  most 
prominent  citizens.  This  new  list  of  committeemen  was  headed  by  the 
mayor,  Walter  Eowne,  and  followed  by  such  well-known  men  as 
General  Lamb,  Gulian  C.  Verplanck,  M.  M.  Noah,  George  D.  Strong, 
John  Haggerty,  General  Morton,  Gideon  J.  Tucker,  Campbell  P. 
White,  Francis  B.  Cutting,  C.  C.  Cambreling,  ex-President  James 
Monroe,  John  I.  Mumford,  George  P.  Morris,  Isaac  Webb,  Clarkson 
Crolius,  Henry  Hone,  Albert  Gallatin,*  S.  L.  Gouverneur,  Thomas 
11.  Leggett,  Charles  OTonor,  Fitz-Greene  Halleck,  Alfred  S.  Pell, 
James  AVatson  Webb.  Samuel  Swartwout,  Philip  Hone,  Henry  Eck- 
ford,  Richard  Riker,  Jacob  Lorillard,  Commodore  Chauncey,  Gideon 
Lee,  Colonel  Trumbull.  Rembrandt  Peale,  Judge  T.  J.  Oakley,  Clarkson 
Crolius,  Jr.,  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  Morgan  Lewis,  Comfort  Sands, 
Governor  Yates,  Colonel  Varick,  Charles  King,  and  others.  These 
men  all  accepted  the  position  and  joined  heartily  in  the  celebration  and 
in  preparations  for  it. 

It  was  resolved  to  hold  the  celebration  on  November  25,  the  anni- 
versary of  the  evacuation  of  New  York  by  the  British.  A  meeting 
was  called  at  Tammany  Hall  on  the  12th,  at  which  ex-President 

*  Albert  Gallatin,  LL.D.,  was  a  native  of  Switzerland,  horn  in  Geneva  in  January, 
17G1,  and  left  an  orphan  at  an  early  age.  He  graduated  at  the  University  of  Geneva  in 
1779.  Like  Lafayette,  he  sympathized  with  the  Americans,  sailed  for  Boston  in  1780, 
offered  his  services  to  the  Americans,  .and  was  placed  in  command  of  the  fort  at  Passant  a- 
quoddy.  At  the  conclusion  of  peace  he  became  a  tutor  of  French  in  Harvard  College. 
Deceiving  his  patrimony  in  1784.  he  invested  it  in  lands  in  Virginia  and  Pennyslvania, 
settled  on  the  banks  of  the  Monongahela,  and  engaged  in  agriculture.  In  1789  he  was  a 
member  of  the  constitutional  convention  of  Pennsylvania,  and  of  the  State  Legislature 
in  1790-92.  He  took  part  in  the  Whiskey  Insurrection  in  1794,  and  assisted  in  the  set- 
tlement of  the  difficulty.  From  1795  to  1801  he  was  a  member  of  Congress.  In  the  latter 
year  President  Jefferson  called  him  to  his  cabinet  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  which 
office  he  filled  with  great  ability  until  1813.  when  he  was  sent  on  a  mission  to  St.  Peters- 
burg. He  was  one  of  the  American  commissioners  who  negotiated  a  treaty  of  peace  at 
Ghent  in  1814.  Gallatin  was  United  States  minister  at  the  French  court  from  1815  till 
1823,  and  went  on  special  missions  elsewhere.  Returning  to  America,  he  made  New 
York  City  his  future  residence,  and  died  there  in  August,  1849.  There  he  devoted  him- 
self to  literature  and  philosophical  and  historical  studies.  He  became  much  interested 
in  the  study  of  the  philology  and  ethnology  of  the  North  American  Indians,  and  was  the 
founder  and  first  president  of  the  American  Ethnological  Society.  In  1843  Mr.  Gallatin 
was  chosen  president  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  and  held  that  position  until 
his  death.    Mr.  Gallatin  was  one  of  the  ablest  financiers  of  his  time. 


288 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Monroe  presided,  assisted  by  Thomas  Hertell,  Mayor  Bowne,  and 
Albert  Gallatin  as  vice-presidents,  and  Daniel  Jackson  and  M.  M.  Noah 
secretaries.  The  great  hall  was  packed  with  men.  The  venerable 
President  was  in  feeble  health  (he  died  a  few  months  afterward),  but 
presided  with  dignity,  and  made  a  patriotic  speech  on  the  occasion, 
dwelling  largely  upon  the  character  of  Lafayette,  who  had  been  so 
conspicuous  in  the  Revolution  in  America,  and  had  borne  such  an  im- 
portant part  in  the  revolution  they  were  about  to  celebrate. 

At  this  meeting  the  general  arrangements  were  made.  It  was 
resolved  to  invite  the  participation  in  the  celebration  of  the  mayor  and 
common  council,  the  judges,  charitable  and  literary  societies,  mechani- 
cal and  scientific  associations,  the  president,  faculty,  and  students  of 
Columbia  College,  the  scholars  of  the  public  schools,  the  uniformed 
militia  companies  of  the  city,  and  the  natives  of  France.  For  each  of 
tiiese  objects  a  committee  of  seven  was  appointed.  A  committee  was 
also  appointed  to  prepare  an  address  to  the  French  people,  also  a  com- 
mittee to  select  an  orator  and  a  grand  marshal.  There  was  a  committee 
of  fifty  persons  appointed  as  a  general  executive  committee  of  arrange- 
ments, of  which  Philip  Hone  was  chairman. 

The  chairman  of  the  committee  to  select  an  orator  was  William  M. 
Price  ;  to  receive  deputations  from  mechanics'  societies,  Robert 
Walker  ;  to  receive  deputations  from  colleges  and  public  schools, 
Samuel  Stevens  ;  to  select  a  grand  marshal.  Andrew  Jackson  ;  to  pre- 
pare an  address  to  the  French  people,  Thomas  Ilertell  ;  of  the  music 
committee,  George  I\  Morris  :  to  confer  with  the  military,  James 
Watson  Webb. 

Invitations  to  participate  were  extended  to  the  Cincinnati  Society, 
to  United  States  officers  of  the  Revolution  and  of  the  late  war,  to  the 
superintendent,  faculty,  and  cadets  of  the  West  Point  Military  Acad- 
emv,  to  the  corporation  of  the  "village  of  Brooklyn,"'  and  various 
other  bodies  who  were  specially  indicated.  Among  the  veterans  of  the 
Revolution  was  Fnoch  Crosby,  the  original  of  Cooper's  "  Spy." 

Samuel  L.  Gouverneur  (son-in-law  of  ex- President  Monroe)  was 
chosen  to  be  the  orator  of  the  day,  and  Samuel  Swartwout,  the  grand 
marshal,  with  twenty-one  aids.  The  dress  of  the  chief  marshal  and 
his  aids  was  prescribed  as  follows  :  Blue  coat,  with  white  facings  and 
gilt  buttons  ;  buff  vest,  with  plain  gilt  buttons  ;  white  pantaloons  ; 
chapeau-de-bras,  tricolored  cockade,  and  plume  ;  tricolored  scarfs  ; 
tricolored  badge,  with  the  stripes  of  the  United  States  flag  to  be  worn 
on  each  lapel  ;  dress  sword  and  gilt  spurs. 

A  number  of  French  residents  offered  their  services  as  an  escort  for 


3aPT)  ST  MOML 


Engravedly-Geo  E  Bsnne  after  original  drawings  W  J  L  Giles 


INSTITUTIONS, 
RELIGIOUS,  BENEVOLENT  AND  CHARITABLE. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


289 


the  grand  marshal,  and  were  accepted,  and  many  of  the  natives  of 
France  prepared  to  participate  in  the  grand  fete. 

As  the  appointed  day  approached,  the  military,  firemen,  exempt  fire- 
men, fire-wardens,  college;  students,  pupils  of  schools,  various  societies, 
the  professions  and  trades,  were  active  in  preparations  for  the  grand 
event.  Flags  and  banners,  badges  and  cockades,  scarfs  and  rosettes, 
the  tricolor  rose  everywhere  and  on  everything,  were  made  ready. 

The  autumn  was  very  mild.  The  Indian  summer  had  made  its  ad- 
vent early,  and  with  its  delicious  haze,  its  balmy  temperature,  and  its 
fading  glories  among  the  trees,  the  vines,  and  the  flowers,  had  given 
its  full  measure  of  enjoyment  to  the  town  and  country  before  the 
momentous  day  arrived.  When  it  arrived  the  weather  Was  very  in- 
clement, and  the  celebration  was  postponed  until  the  next  day  by  the 
display  of  a  red  flag  upon  the  City  Hall,  at  Niblo's,  at  Castle  Garden, 
at  the  Washington  Parade-Ground,  and  at  the  Liberty  Pole  in  Grand 
Street,  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

The  storm  was  over  before  the  dawn  of  the  26th.  The  sky  was  cov- 
ered with  gray  clouds,  and  the  atmosphere  was  bleak  and  chilly.  Be- 
fore sunrise  the  notes  of  preparation  for  the  celebration  that  day  were 
heard  on  every  side,  and  at  nine  o'clock  the  procession  began  to  form 
at  the  Battery.  When  everything  was  in  readiness  it  moved  up  Broad- 
way to  the  Washington  Parade-Ground  (now  Washington  Squafre), 
where  certain  ceremonies  were  to  be  held. 

The  procession  was  led  by  a  squadron  of  cavalry  elegantly  uniformed. 
These  were  followed  by  the  grand  marshal  and  his  aids,  and  eight 
French  gentlemen  wearing  the  beautiful  uniform  of  the  National 
Guards  of  France,  as  the  marshal's  escort.  These  were  all  on  horse- 
hack.  Following  them  was  a  barouche  containing  the  orator  of  the 
day  and  the  reader  of  the  address  to  the  French  people.  Ex-President 
Monroe  was  expected  to  occupy  a  seat  in  this  vehicle,  but  the  feeble 
state  of  his  health  forbade  it,  and  he  joined  the  procession  when  it 
approached  the  parade-ground.  Other  vehicles  followed  bearing  com- 
mitteemen, officers  of  the  city  government,  members  of  Congress  and 
the  State  Legislature,  judges  of  the  National  and  State  courts,  foreign 
ministers  and  consuls,  and  the  New  York  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

In  a  barouche  was  Anthony  Glenn,  a  naval  officer  of  the  Revolution, 
with  David  Williams,  one  of  the  captors  of  Andre  ;  Enoch  Crosby,  the 
patriotic  spy  of  the  Revolution,*  and  Alexander  Whaley,  one  of  the 

*  Enoch  Crosby  was  a  witness  in  a  court  of  justice  in  New  York  in  1827,  and  was  recog- 
nized by  an  old  gentleman,  who  introduced  hiui  to  the  audience  as  the  original  of  Cooper's 


290 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


famous  Boston  tea-party.  Captain  Glenn  bore  aloft  unfurled  the  iden- 
tical standard  which  was  hoisted  by  him  on  the  flagstaff  at  the  Battery 
or  Fort  George  on  the  evacuation  of  the  city  by  the  British  on  the  25th 
of  November,  17S3.  By  his  side  rode  John  Van  Arsdale,  who,  when 
young,  pulled  down  the  British  flag  from  the  same  staff  on  that  momen- 
tous occasion.  lie  received  the  halyards  from  Captain  Glenn  when  he 
raised  the  old  flag  aloft. 

The  bulk  of  the  grand  procession  was  made  up  of  the  faculty  and 
students  of  Columbia  College  bearing  a  medallion  likeness  of  Lafayette, 
with  the  legend  in  Greek,  "  The  glory  of  this  man  shall  be  forever  ;" 
the  members  of  various  professions — law,  medicine,  science,  and  litera- 
ture ;  officers  of  the  army  and  navy,  and  a  vast  array  of  members  of 
the  various  trades  pursued  in  the  city.  These,  with  appropriate  and 
elegant  banners,  made  a  most  attractive  display.  Among  these  the 
printers  and  type-founders  and  persons  connected  with  the  New  York 
press  in  every  capacity  took  the  lead,  preceded  by  a  beautiful  banner 
displaying  a  picture  of  a  Clymer  printing-press.  Their  marshal  was 
the  venerable  John  Lang,  who  had  been  connected  with  the  press 
more  than  forty  years. 

The  fire  department,  which  turned  out  in  full  force,  was  under  the 
direction  of  .James  Gulick.  The  New  York  pilots  made  a  fine  display, 
having  a  car  bearing  a  representation  of  a  French  ship-of-war.  The 
eartmen  of  the  city  numbered  about  three  hundred.  They  were  in 
white  frocks,  weal  ing  on  their  left  breast  a  tricolored  cockade  and  a 
badge  printed  on  white  satin. 

There  was  a  grand  display  of  the  military  organizations  of  the  city 
in  the  procession,  under  the  command  of  the  venerable  General  Jacob 
Morton.  On  his  staff  was  Lieutenant-Colonel  Andrew  "Warner,  who  is 
now  (1883)  and  has  been  for  many  years  the  recording  secretary  of  the 
New  York  Historical  Society.  All  the  other  members  of  General 
Morton's  staff  on  that  occasion  are  dead. 

A  stage  had  been  erected  near  the  centre  of  Washington  Parade- 
Ground.  Ex-President  Monroe,  who  had  consented  to  preside  on  the 
occasion,  with  the  orator  of  the  day  and  others,  awaited  the  arrival  of 
the  procession  at  the  house  of  Colonel  J.  P>.  Murray,  near  by.  Monroe 
was  then  taken  in  a  barouche  to  the  stage,  where  the  Chairmakere' 
Association  presented  him  with  an  elegant  arm-chair,  made  during  the 

Harvey  Birch  in  his  novel  of  "  The  Spy."  The  fact  was  noised  abroad.  Tlie  Spy,  dram- 
atized, was  in  course  of  performance  at  one  of  the  theatres.  Crosby  was  invited  to 
attend.  His  acceptance  was  announced,  and  that  evening  a  crowded  audience  greeted 
the  old  soldier. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1S40. 


201 


progress  of  the  procession.  This  the  venerable  statesman  occupied  on 
the  occasion. 

After  a  prayer  by  the  Rev.  Richard  Varick  Dey,  the  address  to  the 
French  people  was  read  by  William  M.  Price,  when  Samuel  L.  Gouver- 
neur  was  introduced  as  the  orator  of  the  day,  who  pronounced  a  most 
interesting  address  to  the  vast  throng  before  him.  The  oration  was 
followed  by  the  singing  of  an  appropriate  ode  Avritten  by  Samuel 
Woodworth  for  the  occasion,  by  the  entire  band  of  choristers  attached 
to  the  Park  Theatre,  led  by  Mr.  E.  Richings. 

When  the  music  ceased  a  tricolored  flag  which  had  been  borne  in  the 
procession  was  presented,  on  behalf  of  the  natives  of  France  resident  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  to  the  First  Division  of  New  York  State  Artil- 
lery, commanded  by  General  Morton.  Then  the  Marseillaise  Hymn 
was  sung  by  the  choir,  and  the  vast  audience  joined  in  the  stifling 
chorus.  The  brilliant  affair  at  the  Washington  Parade-Ground  was 
closed  at  three  o'clock  by  a  feu  dejoie  by  the  military. 

"  The  day  will  long  live  in  story,"  said  the  New  Y"ork  Courier  and 
Enquirer  the  next  morning,  "and  fill  up  many  a  pleasant  hour  when 
the  children  of  1830,  in  the  winter  of  their  day,  shall  speak  of  the 
events  in  olden  times,  among  the  least  interesting  of  which  shall  not  be 
numbered  the  celebration  of  the  Revolution  of  France  in  the  city  of 
New  York."  It  is  for  the  purpose  of  awakening  in  the  memory  of  the 
"  children  of  1830"  a  vivid  recollection  of  the  event  which  stirred  the 
heart  of  the  great  city  fifty  years  ago,  and  to  tell  to  their  children, 
in  a  few  simple  words,  how  the  bosoms  of  their  fathers  glowed  with 
patriotic  emotion  because  of  the  triumph  of  liberty  beyond  the  sea, 
that  this  record  has  been  made  here. 

In  commemoration  of  Evacuation  Day  and  the  Revolution  in  France 
banquets  were  partaken  of  in  the  evening  in  several  wards,  the  work- 
ing-men and  the  Literarv  Association  of  the  Friends  of  Ireland  at 
Tammany  Hall,  at  all  of  which  there  was  great  hilarity,  speech-making, 
and  singing  of  songs  or  odes  for  the  occasion,  while  there  were  specially 
appropriate  performances  at  the  theatres. 

This  decade  is  a  remarkable  period  in  the  history  of  the  city  of  New 
York  for  the  successful  introduction  of  a  new  system  of  treatment  of 
diseases — a  system  founded  upon  the  positive  knowledge  of  the  science 
of  physiology  (the  basis  of  all  rational  medicine),  which  has  been  de- 
veloped within  the  last  three  fourths  of  a  century  ;  a  system  which  has 
contributed  largely  in  effecting  a  radical  reform  in  the  practice  of  the 
healing  art  of  every  school. 

Previous  to  this  period  "  the  practice  of  the  art,  here  and  there," 


292 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


says  Dr.  Gray,  "  consisted,  with  no  really  scientific  exceptions,  in  a 
heroic  combat  with  two  mythical  demons  of  medicine,  the  strong  and 
the  weak — inflammation  and  debility — by  means  of  emetics,  cathartics, 
venesections,  vesicatories,  sedatives,  tonics,  and  stimulants.  The 
'  principles  '  upon  which  this  terrific  practice  was  founded  were  all 
deduced  from  the  poor  basis  of  the  physiology  of  the  last  century  ;  and 
that,  without  having-  interrogated  this  physiology  as  to  the  real  powers 
of  the  vast  drug  apparatus  they  used,  either  specific  and  direct,  or  reac- 
tion and  revolutionary.  Nothing  was  scientifically  known  of  the  action 
of  any  chug,  by  any  physiological  test  :  none  other  than  the  little 
derived  from  its  empirical  use  in  disease,  and  from  the  scarcity  and 
unarranged  memoranda  of  toxicology.  .  .  .  But  the  profession, 
even  at  the  period  of  which  we  are  treating,  were,  as  their  literature 
now  and  then  discloses,  by  no  means  satisfied  with  the  uncertain  prin- 
eiples  and  distinctive  processes  of  their  therapeutics  ;  there  were  not 
w  anting  in  all  countries  men  who  looked  for  as  great  and  radical  a 
reformation  in  the  healing  art  as  had  already  occurred  in  the  sciences 
of  astronomy  and  chemistry,  or  as  great  a  change  as  had  taken  place  in 
the  art  of  navigation.  Nearly  all,  indeed,  outside  the  walls  of  mercan- 
tile cliques  and  colleges  were  discontented  with  the  principles  evulgated 
in  medical  schools  and  books  ;  but  not  looking  in  the  direction  of  phar- 
macology for  the  new  truths  waited  for,  each  earnest  man  repeated  the 
old  method  of  excogitating  a  new  theory,  or  of  compounding  an  eclectic 
art  from  the  multitude  of  extant  hypotheses."  * 

In  the  fulness  of  time  a  radical  and  learned  reformer  appeared  in 
the  person  of  Samuel  Hahnemann,  an  eminent  German  physician  and 
philosopher,  who  so  early  as  lslO  sounded  the  keynote  for  an  entirely 
new  method  in  medical  logic  by  the  publication  of  a  treatise  styled 
"  Organon  of  Rational  Therapeutics. "  lie  announced  the  idea  of 
forming  a  materia  medica  upon  the  rational  process  of  patient  physio- 
logical tests  of  the  powers  of  drugs.  So  soon  as  his  work  appeared 
many  persons  in  the  profession  and  votaries  of  science  joined  him  in 
making  his  "  dnuj  tests."  He  collected  from  the  literature  of  the 
profession  in  all  ages  the  scattered  fragments  denoting  the  purely 
physiological  power  of  drugs,  and  combined  them  with  the  new  prov- 
ings.  These  tests  extended  over  a  space  of  more  than  a,  dozen  years, 
and  in  1S21  he  completed  his  great  work  which  embodied  the  result  of 
all  researches  up  to  that  time,  entitled  "  Pure  Materia  Medica." 

The  system  then  introduced  was  termed  Homoeopathy,  from  two 


*  "The  Early  Annals  of  Homoeopathy  in  New  York,"  by  John  F.  Gray,  M.D. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


293 


,Greek  words  signifying  "similar  suffering."  It  is  founded  on  the 
belief  that  medicines  have  the  power  of  curing  morbid  conditions  simi- 
lar to  those  which  they  have  the  power  to  excite,  expressed  by  the 
words  "  like  cures  like  ;"  in  other  words,  a  disease  produced  in  a 
healthy  person  by  a  substance  may  be  cured  by  administering-  the  same 
substance  to  a  patient  suffering-  from  the  same  disease. 

This  was  not  a  new  idea,  for  Hippocrates  gave  this  remarkable  pre- 
scription for  mania.  :  "  Give  the  patient  a  draught  made  from  the  root 
of  mandrake,  in  a  smaller  dose  than  sufficient  to  Induce  mania.'"1  And 
Milton,  in  his  preface  to  "  Samson  Agonistes,"  says  :  "In  physic, 
things  of  melancholic  hue  and  quality  are  used  against  melancholy, 
sour  against  sour,  salt  to  remove  salt  humors,"  etc.  But  to  Hahne- 
mann belongs  the  glory  of  propounding  and  enforcing  the  startling 
dogma. 

( )ne  of  the  early  disciples  of  Hahnemann  was  John  Gram,  a  native 
of  Boston.  His  father,  a  Dane,  emigrated  to  America  at  the  close  of 
our  old  war  for  independence.  lie  married  an  American  wife,  and 
died  quite  young,  leaving  two  or  three  children.  John  was  the  oldest, 
and  when  he  was  about  fourteen  years  of  age  he  went  to  Copenhagen, 
Denmark,  Avhere  he  was  furnished  with  a  good  education  by  his  rela- 
tions, some  of  whom  were  distinguished  in  public  life.  He  studied 
medicine,  obtained  a  lucrative  practice  in  Copenhagen,  acquired  a  com- 
petent fortune,  and  having  tested  Hahnemann's  method  and  become  an 
enthusiastic  convert,  he  came  to  his  native  land,  after  an  absence  of 
about  twenty  years.  He  gave  up  a  lucrative  practice  in  Copenhagen, 
and  landed  in  New  York  an  avowed  apostle  of  the  new  faith. 

Dr.  Gram  translated  one  of  Hahnemann's  most  powerful  essays, 
"  The  Spirit  of  Homoeopathy,"  printed  it,  and  scattered  it  widely  and 
gratuitously  among  the  medical  profession  in  this  country,  especially  in 
the  city  of  New  York.  His  imperfect  use  of  the  English  language 
and  the  difficulty  of  conveying  scientific  knowledge  from  German  into 
English  caused  his  pamphlet  to  be  unappreciated,  even  by  men  like  Drs. 
Hosack  and  Francis. 

Dr.  John  F.  Gray,  then  a,  young  physician  of  New  York  with  an 
extensive  practice,  was  Dr.  Gram's  first  convert.  He  was  introduced 
to  Gram  in  1S2(>  by  one  of  his  patients  suffering  with  dyspepsia,  who 
had  heard  of  the  new  system.  The  apostle  of  the  new  faith  had  "  laid 
his  hands"  on  Gray's  patient  with  wonderful  effect.  Dr.  Gray  was 
astonished,  and  at  once  put  Hahnemann's  method  to  a  severe  test,  not 
by  his  own  prescriptions,  but  by  those  of  Dr.  Gram.  The  first  subject 
was  a  scrofulous  girl,  the  second  a  maniac  whose  malady  was  caused  by 


294 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


puerperal  fever,  and  the  third  was  a  confirmed  drunkard.  Dr.  Gram  pre- 
scribed for  all.  The  first  and  third  cases  were  cured  by  a  single  dose  of 
the  remedy  prescribed,  Dr.  Gray  arranging  the  diet  and  moral  conditions. 

The  second  case — mania — was  under  diet  rule  fourteen  days,  and 
then  a  single  dose  of  nux  vamiea  was  administered.  "  She  folly  recov- 
ered her  reason  within  half  an  hour  after  taking  the  dose  of  nux 
vomica"  says  Dr.  Gray,  "  and  never  lost  it  afterward."  *  AVithin  a 
year  Dr.  Gray  became  a  full  convert  to  homoeopathy,  the  first  in 
America. 

The  second  convert  to  homoeopathy  in  Xew  York  was  Dr.  A.  D. 
"Wilson,  in  1829.  He  was  a  ripe  scholar  and  in  full  practice.  The 
next  convert  was  Dr.  A.  G.  Hull,  a  thoughtful  student  of  medicine 
and  a  graduate  of  Union  College  in  182S.  lie  had  entered  Rutgers 
Medical  College,  where  he  found  such  able  physicians  and  surgeons  as 
Drs.  Ilosack,  .Macneven,  Mott,  and  Francis  as  professors.  Gram  taught 
him  botany  in  summer,  and  reviewed  prescriptive  anatomy  with  him  in 
winter.  Hull  was  admitted  to  practice  by  the  Xew  York  Medical 
Society  in  1S32.  He  was  a  convert  to  homoeopathy,  and  wrote  in  sup- 
port of  the  new  school  so  early  as  1S.U. 

In  1832  Dr.  William  Charming  became  a  convert.  He  was  a  man  of 
large  culture  in  letters,  thoroughly  educated  in  medicine,  and  had  a 
large  practice.  On  the  outbreak  of  the  cholera  in  1832  he  perceived 
the  ill-success  of  the  medical  treatment  of  cholera  patients  in  the  hos- 
pitals. He  tried  Hahnemann's  prescriptions  with  wonderful  success. 
They  were  so  efficient  that  Dr.  ('banning  published  in  the  Conuix'rcinl 
Advertiser,  over  his  own  signature,  an  account  of  the  treatment.  Soon 
after  that  he  was  an  avowed  convert  to  the  new  faith.  These  early 
converts  and  one  or  two  others,  with  Dr.  Gram,  kept  up  regular  social 
reunions  with  great  pleasure  and  profit  until  the  deatli  of  the  master  in 
1S40. 

The  translation  of  Hahnemann's  "  Pure  Materia  Mediea"  into 
French,  in  1S32-33,  by  Dr.  Jourdafl  of  Paris,  gave  a  fresh  impetus  to 
the  spread  of  homoeopathy  in  Europe  and  America.  Before  that  time 
no  physician  could  test  the  practice  without  a  thorough  knowledge  of 
the  German  language.  This  difficulty  explains  the  slowness  of  the 
expansion  of  the  system  dining  the  first  eight  years  after  Gram's 
advent  in  Xew  York. 

The  social  relations  of  the  converts  with  their  professional  brethren 
of  another  school,  or  with  the  Medical  Society,  were  not  disturbed  by 


*  "  The  Early  Annals  of  Homoeopathy  in  Xew  York,"  by  J.  F.  Gray,  M.D.,  p.  14, 


FIRST  DECADE,  1S30-1840. 


295 


their  heresy.  They  wisely  avoided  disputation  or  discussion.  The 
topic  was  treated  of  sparingly.  Homoeopathy  and  quackery  were  asso- 
ciated in  the  minds  of  a  great  proportion  of  the  medical  profession  and 
of  the  laity.  But  its  devotees  kept  steadily  on,  winning  the  confidence 
of  the  people  more  and  more,  and  fully  persuaded  of  the  value  of  the 
great  reform  they  were  the  almost  silent  instruments  in  effecting. 

When  in  1837-38  Hahnemann's  great  work  was  translated  and  pub- 
lished in  the  chief  spoken  languages  of  Europe,  they  wei*e  reticent  no 
longer.  Thev  then  heaan  a  nianlv  and  vigorous  defence  of  the  svstein. 
Dr.  Gray  revived  the  publication  of  the  American  Journal  qfJ3dm<ecp- 
uthy,  which  had  been  suspended,  and  a  distinct  Homoeopathic  Society 
was  formed.  From  that  hour  the  conflict  waxed  warm.  The  princi- 
ples of  the  new  school  were  promulgated  and  discussed.  New  converts 
appeared.  Drs.  Ticknor,  Freeman,  Curtis,  Taylor,  Coxe,  Bosnian. 
Vanderburgh,  Joslin,  and  Snow  left  the  old  school  and  joined  the  new. 

About  the  period  of  Gram's  death  homoeopathy  began  to  be  sup- 
ported in  various  cities  in  the  State  of  New  York,  as  well  as  in  other 
States.  "  Regular''  physicians  earnestly  examined  its  principles,  and 
profited  by  an  acceptance  of  them  in  practice,  while  adhering  tech- 
nically to  the  old  school.  Confidence  in  the  system  rapidly  spread 
among  the  laity.  Prejudice  gave  way  in  the  circle  of  the  medical  pro- 
fession. Institutes  sprung  up  in  support  of  the  system  of  homoeopathy. 
Legislators  favored  it  with  encouraging  laws,  and  in  the  city  of  New 
York  to-day  there  are  flourishing  public  homoeopathic  institutions,  such 
as  a  college,  a  dispensary,  an  asylum,  an  infirmary,  and  a  hospital. 

The  State  Medical  Society  and  county  medical  societies  vehemently 
opposed  the  new  faith,  and  made  the  act  of  consulting  with  a  homoeo- 
pathic physician  on  the  part  of  any  of  the  members  a  misdemeanor  to 
be  visited  with  discipline,  and  possibly  punished  by  excommunication  — 
dismissal  from  the  society.  Gradually,  as  the  progress  of  medical 
science  diffused  new  light,  and  thoughtful  members  of  the  medical 
societies  of  the  old  school  perceived  that  the  summit  of  human  knowl- 
edge had  not  yet  been  attained  by  the  profession,  there  appeared  a 
possibility  that  these  despised  competitors  might  become  pleasant  coad- 
jutors in  the  toilsome  ascent.  Toleration  interposed  its  genial  influ- 
ence, and  common-sense  asserted  its  rights. 

In  1SS2  the  "  regular"  Medical  Society  of  the  State  of  New  York 
voted  that  its  members  might  fully  consult  with  homoeopathic  phy- 
sicians. This  liberal  measure  was  vehemently  opposed  by  a  lai'ge  pro- 
portion of  the  "  regular"  profession,  and  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
society,  in  January,  1S83,  an  attempt  was  made  to  rescind  that  resolu- 


296 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


tion,  and  withdraw  the  invitation  to  homoeopathic  physicians  to  consulta- 
tion with  "  regulars."  But  the  society  refused  to  reverse  that  decision, 
by  a  vote  of  105  to  99.  An  analysis  of  that  vote  and  a  reference  to 
the  proceedings  show  that  the  more  eminent  and  learned  members  of 
the  society,  such  as  Drs.  Willard  Parker.  Fordyce  Barker  (president  of 
the  Academy  of  Medicine),  Cornelius  11.  Agnew,  and  others,  advo- 
cated (and  voted  for)  the  liberal  side  of  the  question. 

In  the  Code  of  Ethics  formulated  by  the  American  Institute  of 
Homoeopathy  for  the  government  of  its  members  and  of  societies  in 
affiliation  with  it,  adopted  nearly  twenty  years  ago  (1864)',  is  the  fol- 
lowing paragraph  concerning  the  duty  of  physicians  in  regard  to  con- 
saltation  : 

"  No  difference  in  views  on  subjects  of  medical  principles  or  practice 
should  he  allowed  to  influence  a  physician  against  consenting  to  a  con- 
sultation with  a  fellow  practitioner.  The  very  object  of  a  consultation 
is  to  bring  together  those  who  may  perhaps  differ  in  their  views  of  the 
disease  and  its  appropriate  treatment,  in  the  hope  that  from  a  compari- 
son of  different  view  s  may  be  derived  a  just  estimate  of  the  disease  and 
a  successful  course  of  treatment.  No  tests  of  orthodoxy  in  medical 
practice  should  he  applied  to  limit  the  freedom  of  consultations." 

Dr.  Gram,  the  founder  of  homoeopathy  in  America,  was  the  grand- 
son of  a  wealthy  merchant  of  Copenhagen.  His  son,  the  father  of  the 
doctor,  came  to  America  when  quite  young,  fell  in  love  with  an  inn- 
keeper's daughter  in  Boston,  and  married  her,  and  was  disinherited  by 
his  offended  father.  The  doctor  was  born  in  1786.  He  is  represented 
as  a  most  exemplary  man.  Dr.  Cray  says  :  "  He  was  an  earnest  Chris- 
tian of  the  Swedenborgian  faith,  a  man  of  the  most  scrupulously  pure 
and  charitable  life  I  have  ever  known.  The  squalid  hovel  of  the  sick 
poor  was  to  (Tram  ever  the  most  holy  temple  of  religion.  .  .  .  No 
darkness  or  wintry  storm  or  failure  of  strength  or  allurement  of  the 
world  detained  Gram  when  the  suffering  poor  needed  his  healing  pres- 
ence. He  believed  in  Cod  ;  he  worked  and  walked  his  earthly 
pilgrimage  with  his  Redeemer.  And  yet,  this  good  man  and  earnest 
believer  was  often  called  an  infidel,  sometimes  even  by  thoughtless 
( 'hristian  ministers,  because  he  abstained  from  the  topic  on  all  occasions 
and  with  all  people,  except  when  he  was  called  to  the  performance  of 
his  kind  of  religious  worship." 

Dr.  Cram's  first  American  convert,  and  the  able  pioneer  in  the 
practice  of  the  homoeopathic  system  of  medicine,  was  Dr.  Gray.* 

*  John  Franklin  Gray,  M.D.,  LL.D.,  was  a  remarkable  man.  He  was  born  at  Sher- 
burne, Chenango  County,  N.  Y.,  on  September  3,  1804,  and  lived  a  life  of  great  usefulness 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 
i 


He  had  then  a  large  and  rapidly  increasing  circle  of  patients, 
and  families  and  fame  and  fortune  beckoned  him  to  their  embrace. 
But  his  new  departure — his  wandering  in  an  untraversed  wilderness  of 
a  strange  medical  theory,  as  it  was  considered  by  the  profession  here  — 
lost  him  the  larger  portion  of  his  patients.  The  few  who  clung  to  him 
were  of  the  grateful  but  unremunerative  sort.  Tie  was  compelled  to 
give  up  his  carriage,  which  had  been  needful  in  his  daily  duties.  His 
professional  brethren  regarded  him  as  an  outcast,  and  hardly  recognized 
him  as  one  of  their  fraternity.    They  pitied  him  because  of  his  lunacy. 

But  Dr.  Gray  had  the  courage  of  his  convictions.  Satisfied  of  the 
truth  of  the  doctrine  he  had  embraced  and  practised,  and  with  a  firm 
belief  that  those  truths  would  ultimately  triumph,  he  struggled  man- 
fully against  the  strong  current  of  prejudice  and  ignorance,  and  labored 
untiringly  for  the  fulfilment,  in  his  own  time,  of  the  sure  prophecy  that 
gladdened  his  mental  vision.  lie  beheld  the  promised  land  from  the 
Pisgah  of  his  own  consciousness.    Dr.  Gram  sustained  him  with  his 

for  nearly  fourscore  years.  His  grandfather  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  the  township 
of  Sherburne. 

Young  Gray  was  left  at  an  early  age  and  with  a  meagre  education  to  depend  upon  his 
own  exertions  to  obtain  a  livelihood.  He  earned  with  his  own  hands  money  sufficient  to 
"  seek  his  fortune  abroad."  He  travelled  as  far  as  Hamilton,  Oneida  County,  and  ob- 
tained employment  in  the  office  of  Dr.  Haven  as  clerk  and  assistant,  with  the  privilege  of 
studying  medicine  when  he  had  leisure  to  do  so.  He  had  a  receptive  and  retentive  mind, 
and  had  conceived  a  very  strong  desire  to  become  a  practitioner  of  the  healing  art. 

Dr.  Haven,  perceiving  his  studious  habits  and  longing  for  knowledge,  especially  of  the 
healing  art,  gave  him  every  opportunity  for  study  in  his  power.  During  the  two  years 
Gray  was  with  him  the  youth  acquired  a  fair  knowledge  of  Latin,  under  the  instructions 
of  the  principal  of  the  village  academy,  since  expanded  into  Madison  University.  His 
wardrobe  needing  replenishment,  he  taught  a  district  school  a  few  months,  obtained  a 
new  suit  of  clothes,  and  started  on  foot  to  visit  his  parents,  more  than  two  hundred 
miles  deeper  in  the  western  wilderness,  in  Chautauqua  County,  where  they  had  removed. 
He  opened  a  private  school  near  Dunkirk,  was  very  successful,  and  having  studied 
continually  with  the  object  of  entering  the  medical  profession,  he  was  enabled,  with 
money  enough  saved  from  his  earnings,  to  start  for  New  York  to  take  instruction  in  the 
medical  college  there.  He  bore  influential  letters  of  introduction  ;  among  others  one 
from  Governor  De  Witt  Clinton  to  Dr.  Hosack  and  others.  He  received  the  diploma 
of  a  Doctor  of  Medicine  from  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  in  March, 
182fi,  when  he  was  twenty-two  years  of  age. 

By  the  advice  of  Dr.  Hosack,  Dr.  Gray  began  the  practice  of  his  profession  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  and  continued  active  in  it  fifty-five  years.  He  opened  an  office  in 
Charlton  Street,  then  far  "up  town."  His  success  was  remarkable  from  the  beginning. 
He  married  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Amos  G.  Hull,  and  his  personal  and  professional  relations 
in  the  city  were  most  happy.  As  we  have  seen,  he  became  the  first  convert  of  the 
apostle  of  homoeopathy,  Dr.  Gram,  and  was  ever  afterward  his  most  efficient  champion  by 
word  and  deed. 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


professional  skill  and  counsel.  Success  in  his  practice  brought  friends, 
old  and  new,  to  his  support.  A  convert  from  the  old  school  now  and 
then  appeared,  as  we  have  seen,  and  it  was  not  a  very  long  time  before 
Dr.  Gray  needed  a  carriage  again  in  the  performance  of  his  daily  duties. 

The  violent  professional  assaults  made  upon  Dr.  Gray  practically 
proved  the  truth  of  the  saying,  >l  The  blood  of  the  martyrs  is  the  seed 
of  the  church."'  The  comparative  results  of  the  various  sorts  of  medi- 
cal treatment  were  so  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  mild  and  simple  and 
successful  course  pursued  from  the  first  by  Dr.  Gray  and  his  handful  of 
compeers  that  they  set  thoughtful  persons  to  candid  thinking,  and  gave 
a  powerful  impulse  to  the  spread  of  homoeopathy  ;  and  Dr.  Gray  lived 
to  see  Hahnemann's  system  of  cure,  from  the  first  planting  in  this 
country,  established  in  every  part  of  it,  with  its  educated  and  trained 
practitioners  numbered  by  thousands,  its  societies  and  institutions  sanc- 
tioned by  law  in  every  State  of  the  Republic,  with  its  colleges,  hos- 
pitals, infirmaries,  and  dispensaries  existing  in  numbers  to  meet  the 
rapidly  increasing  demand. 

In  1834  Dr.  Gray,  in  con  junction  with  his  brother-in-law  (his  pupil 
and  convert),  Dr.  A.  G.  Hull,  established  the  first  American  Journal 
of  Homoeopathy.  Its  issue  soon  ceased  for  want  of  support,  but  was 
afterward  revived  for  a  while  under  another  name.  At  Dr.  Gray's 
suggestion,  an  association  of  all  the  disciples  of  Hahnemann  in  the 
United  States  was  formed,  with  the  title  of  "  American  Institute  of 
Homoeopathy.11  It  is  the  oldest  national  medical  institution  in  the 
country.    Dr.  Gray  was  for  years  the  leading  spirit  of  the  society. 

The  literature  of  homoeopathy  in  America  received  very  important 
but  not  very  numerous  contributions  from  the  pen  of  Dr.  Gray  ;  his 
personal  exertions  in  promoting  the  spread  and  success  of  the  new 
system  of  therapeutics  were  enormous.  As  president  of  the  State 
Homoeopathic  Medical  Society,  he  successfully  exerted  his  influence 
with  the  Legislature  of  New  York  in  favor  of  the  enactment  of  a  law  for 
the  promotion  of  a  higher  standard  of  education  by  providing  for  the 
appointment  of  a  board  of  State  examiners,  entirely  unconnected  with 
the  medical  colleges,  for  the  examination  of  candidates  for  a  higher 
honorary  degree,  to  be  conferred  only  by  the  regents  of  the  University 
of  the  State.  After  much  opposition  such  a  law  was  enacted  May  16, 
L872.  Under  this  "advanced  medical  act"  the  Board  of  Regents 
enjoined  a  rigid  code  of  rules  and  regulations  for  the  conduct  of  these 
examiners.  Dr.  Gray  was  appointed  president  of  the  first  board  of 
examiners,  and  held  that  position  until  his  death,  which  occurred  on 
June  5,  1882,  when  he  was  in  the  seventy-eighth  year  of  his  age. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


299 


Dr.  Gray  was  a  thorough  classical  scholar,  and  conspicuous  for  his 
wide  and  varied  knowledge.  lie  was  generous,  kind-hearted,  and 
ever  ready  to  give  a  hand  to  help  the  needy.  His  professional  benefac- 
tions among  the  poor  were  far  beyond  the  public  ken.  The  sick  poor 
always  found  in  him  an  attentive  physician  and  a  sympathizing  friend. 
A  single  anecdote  will  fitly  illustrate  this  phase  of  his  character.  A 
poor  sewing-girl  went  to  Dr.  Gray  for  advice.  He  gave  her  a  vial  of 
medicine,  and  told  her  to  go  home  and  go  to  bed. 

"  I  can't  do  that,  doctor,"  said  the  girl,  "for  I  am  dependent  on 
what  I  earn  every  day  for  my  living.'1 

"  If  that  is  so,"  said  the  doctor,  "I'll  change  the  medicine  a  little. 
Give  me  back  the  vial." 

He  took  it,  and  wrapping  around  it  a  ten-dollar  bill,  returned  it  to 
the  poor  girl,  and  repeated  his  order  : 

"  Go  home  and  go  to  bed.    Take  the  medicine,  wrapper  and  all." 

New  York  City  has  now  a  large  body  of  homoeopathic  physicians  of 
the  highest  professional  character  and  attainments.  Among  the  most 
successful  of  these  are  Drs.  Egbert  Guernsey,*  E.  E.  Marcy,  f  and 
William  Tod  Ilelmuth.  The  latter  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  skil- 
ful surgeons  in  the  city,  and  has  contributed  largely  and  usefully  to  the 
literature  of  homoeopathy .  %  ■ 

*  Dr.  Egbert  Guernsey  is  a  native  of  Litchfield,  Connecticut,  and  a  graduate  of  the 
medical  department  of  the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York.  He  took  his  degree  in 
1844.  After  his  graduation  he  took  charge  of  a  drug-store  for  a  while.  In  1849  lie  was 
appointed  city  physician  of  Williamsburgh,  now  Brooklyn,  Eastern  District.  At  that 
time  the  cholera  prevailed  in  New  York  and  Brooklyn.  After  exhausting  every  means 
the  allopathic  materia  medico,  furnished  for  the  restoration  of  his  patients,  he  consulted 
Dr.  Cox,  a  recent  convert  to  homoeopathy,  who,  in  his  prescription  of  a  few  doses  of 
arsenicum,  prepared  homceopathically,  relieved  a  patient  he  was  attending.  This  service 
induced  him  to  examine  the  system  of  Hahnemann,  and  he  became  a  convert.  He  was 
eminently  successful  in  all  cholera  and  dysentery  cases.  Dr.  Guernsey  settled  in  the  city 
of  New  York  in  1851,  and  the  next  year  he  published  his  work  on  "  Domestic  Practice," 
a  most  valuable  family  guide.  His  practice  in  New  York  soon  became  extensive,  and  also 
profitable  to  his  patients  and  himself. 

f  Dr.  E.  E.  Marcy  is  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  was  born  in  1810.  After  practis- 
ing medicine  allopathically  for  about  ten  years,  he  discarded  it  and  began  the  homoeo- 
pathic practice  in  New  York  about  1850,  where  he  originated  the  North  Amtrican  Homceo- 
pathie  Journal,  of  which  he  was  the  principal  editor  for  about  fifteen  years.  Dr.  Marcy 
is  a  very  skilful  physician  and  has  a  large  practice.  His  contributions  to  homu  opathic 
literature  are  many  and  important. 

t  William  Tod  Helmuth,  M.D.,  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  October  30.  1833.  He 
was  educated  at  St.  Timothy's  College,  Baltimore,  and  in  1850  began  the  study  of  medi- 
cine under  his  uncle.  Dr.  William  S.  Helmuth,  then  professor  of  the  history  and  practice 
of  medicine  in  the  Homoeopathic  Medical  College  of  Pennsylvania.    Graduating  in  1853 


300 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


with  honor,  he  received  his  doctorate  and  began  the  practice  of  his  profession,  having 
for  a  while  acted  as  dispensary  physician  of  the  college. 

In  1855,  when  he  was  only  twenty -two  years  of  age,  Dr.  Helmuth  was  elected  professor 
of  anatomy  in  his  alma  mater,  and  in  the  same  year  he  completed  and  published  a  work 
of  650  pages,  entitled  "  Surgery,  and  its  Adaptation  to  Homoeopathic  Practice."  In  1858 
Dr.  Helmuth  removed  to  St.  Louis  and  became  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Homoeopathic 
Medical  College  of  Missouri,  in  which  he  occupied  the  chair  of  anatomy.  He  also  be- 
came one  of  the  surgeons  of  the  Good  Samaritan  Hospital,  which  position  he  occupied 
until  1870,  when  he  made  his  place  of  residence  and  field  of  professional  labor  in  the 
city  of  New  York. 

In  1800  Dr.  Helmuth  delivered  the  annual  address  before  the  American  Institute  of 
Homoeopathy,  and  in  1807,  at  its  session  in  the  city  ot  New  York,  he  was  chosen  its 
president.  The  following  year  he  went  to  Europe  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  his 
knowledge  of  surgical  science,  and  made  quite  an  extensive  tour  on  the  continent.  On 
his  return,  in  1861),  he  organized  the  St.  Louis  College  of  Homoeopathic  Physicians  and 
Surgeons,  and  became  its  dean  and  professor  of  surgery.  In  1870  he  received  an  urgent 
call  to  the  chair  of  surgery  in  the  Homu:opathic  Medical  College  of  New  York,  which 
he  accepted.  On  his  departure  from  St.  Louis  for  his  new  field  of  action  his  profes- 
sional and  other  friends  in  tbat  city  gave  him  a  banquet,  and  presented  him  with  a  com- 
plete service  of  silver,  as  "  a  token  of  their  high  esteem  for  him  as  a  citizen  and  a  man 
of  science."  With  such  a  gratifying  farewell  demonstration  he  left  the  West  and  took 
up  his  residence  in  the  commercial  metropolis  of  the  Republic,  where  he  is  now,  in 
the  enjoyment  of  an  extensive  professional  practice,  which  he  soon  won  by  his  skill  and 
industry. 

Dr.  Helmuth  married  Miss  Pritchard,  of  St.  Louis,  in  1850.  Since  that  time  his  lit- 
erary labors  in  the  cause  of  medical  science  have  been  extensive  and  useful.  We  have 
seen  that  at  the  age  of  twenty-two  he  published  an  important  volume.  In  1804  he  became 
one  of  the  founders  and  the  principal  editor  of  the  Western  Homoeopathic  Observer,  which 
he  conducted  with  great  ability  until  he  left  St.  Louis,  a  period  of  about  seven  years. 
During  his  residence  in  New  York,  besides  making  frequent  contributions  to  periodical 
medical  literature,  he  has  revised  and  annotated  the  four  editions  of  his  "  System  of 
Surgery."  He  has  published  a  volume  of  "  Surgical  Clinics,"  a  monograph  on  "  Nerve 
Stretching.' '  an  account  of  "  A  Dozen  Cases  in  Clinical  Surgery"  (which  are  all  rare  and 
interesting\  an  essay  on  "  The  Excision  of  the  Rectum,"  and  a  quarto  volume  on 
"Supra-Pubic  Lithotomy,"  illustrated  with  colored  lithographic  plates.  Dr.  Helmuth 
has  indulged  in  lighter  literature,  having  issued  several  humorous  poems,  among  them 
"The  Doctor  Woman,"  "  My  First  Patient,"  "  How  I  Became  a  Surgeon,"  and  a  collec- 
tion of  fugitive  pieces  entitled  "  Scratches  of  a  Surgeon,"  and  a  little  volume  entitled 
'•  A  Steamer  Rook"— a  sort  of  book  of  travel  to  be  read  upon  a  steamboat. 

Dr.  Helmuth,  besides  occupying  the  chair  ot  surgery  in  the  New  York  Homoeopathic 
Medical  College,  is  one  of  the  surgeons  to  the  Ward's  Island  Hospital,  to  the  Hahnemann 
Hospital,  and  to  the  New  York  College  and  Hospital  for  Women.  He  is  a  "  Veteran" 
member  of  the  American  Institute  of  Homoeopathy  ;  a  Fellow  of  the  New  York  Medico- 
Chirurgical  Society  ;  a  member  and  late  president  of  the  Homoeopathic  County  Medical 
Society  ;  a  permanent  member  of  the  Homeopathic  Medical  Society  of  the  State  of  New 
York  ;  and  during  a  recent  visit  to  Europe  was  elected  an  honorary  member  of  the 
Societe  Homoeopathique  de  France.  He  is  also  an  honorary  member  of  the  State  socie- 
ties of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


N  1832  a  radical  change  in  the  system  of  public  instruction  in  the 


further,  let  us  take  a  brief  retrospective  glance  at  the  condition  of 
public  instruction  on  Manhattan  Island  from  the  beginning  of  settle- 
ments thereon. 

The  Hollanders  who  settled  on  the  site  of  the  city  of  New  York  had 
enjoyed  the  blessings  of  free  public  schools  in  their  native  land,  and 
provision  was  made  in  the  charter  of  the  Dutch  West  India  Company 
for  "  good  and  fit  preachers,  schoolmasters,  and  comforters  of  the  sick" 
in  the  wilderness  of  New  Netherland.  It  was  ordained  that  the  relig- 
ious and  secular  teachers  should  walk  hand  in  hand  in  the  high  employ- 
ment of  educating  the  head  and  the  heart.  For  a  time  the  minister 
and  schoolmaster  were  found  in  the  same  person,  but  in  1633  Dominie 
Bogardus,  the  minister,  who  had  also  been  the  school-teacher,  was 
relieved  of  pedagogical  duties,  and  Adam  Koelandsen  was  installed  as 
schoolmaster.  He  was  the  first  of  a  long  line  of  secular  instructors  of 
the  young,  Avho  may  be  justly  regarded  as  among  the  grandest  builders 
of  our  free  institutions.  Koelandsen  should  be  canonized  as  the  tutelar 
saint  of  the  thousands  of  school-teachers  in  the  city  of  New  York  who 
to-day  are  fostering  education,  which,  as  Burke  said,  is  "the  cheap 
defence  of  nations. ' ' 

When  Dutch  rule  ended  on  Manhattan  Island  there  were  three  pub- 
lic schools  and  more  than  a  dozen  private  schools  in  New  Amsterdam, 
now  New  York.  The  first  of  these  is  yet  in  existence,  and  known  as 
the  "  School  of  the  Reformed  Protestant  Dutch  Church,' 1  founded  by 
Governor  Stuyvesant,  and  probably  the  oldest  educational  institution 
in  our  country. 

In  1050  an  excellent  Latin  School  was  established,  and  fostered  by 
the  Dutch  Government.  It  was  continued  eight  years  after  the  Eng- 
lish took  possession  of  New  Amsterdam.  William  III.  decreed  that 
the  minister  of  the  Dutch  Church  should  have  the  right  to  nominate 
school-teachers.  In  1702  a  Free  Grammar  School  was  founded,  and  an 
edifice  for  it  was  built  on  the  King's  Farm.    Two  years  later  William 


Before  considering  that  topic 


304 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Rutgers.  It  was  completed  early  in  the  autumn  of  1811,  and  on  the 
13th  of  November  it  was  opened  as  Public  School  No.  '2. 

The  second  war  for  independence  (1812-15)  interrupted  the  benefi- 
cent lalx>rs  of  the  society,  but  they  resumed  their  work  with  vigor  at 
its  close.  They  received  from  the  Legislature  that  year  (1815)  their 
quota  of  the  State  school  fund,  amounting  to  £3708.  From  that  time 
the  number  of  public-school  houses  gradually  increased.  In  1818  No.  3 
was  opened  for  pupils  on  the  corner  of  Amos  and  Hudson  streets,  ami 
the  next  year  No.  4  was  erected  in  Kivington  Street,  when  a  new  de- 
parture in  the  arrangement  of  public-school  buildings  was  made.  That 
was  the  first  in  which  were  separate  departments  for  boys  and  girls. 
Afterward  a  small  library  was  introduced  into  each  school. 

The  free  public  schools  became  more  and  more  }x>pular,  and  the 
favor  of  the  citizens  received  a  powerful  impetus  from  a  circumstance 
which  occurred  in  1834.  In  October  of  that  year  Lafayette  visited  the 
city  of  New  York.  In  company  with  State  and  city  officials  he  visited 
Public  School  No.  3,  which  contained  live  hundred  1k>vs  and  two  hun- 
dred girls.  In  the  presence  of  these  seven  hundred  children,  all  tidy  in 
appearance  and  orderly  in  behavior,  this  "  guest  of  the  nation"  listened 
to  a  poetical  address  recited  by  a  class  of  girls  in  concert.  At  two 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day  Lafayette  reviewed  all  the 
children  of  the  public  schools  in  the  city  before  a  large  eoncourse  of 
people  in  the  City  Hall  Park.  The  children  numbered  more  than  three 
thousand.  They  carried  banners  with  appropriate  inscriptions,  on  one 
of  which  were  the  signilicant  words,  "  Edicatiox  is  the  Basis  ok  Kukk 
(iovkknmkxt. * '  A  sweet  little  girl  recited*  touching  ]>oetie  address, 
expressing,  in  the  name  of  the  children  of  America,  their  gratitude  to 
this  friend  and  associate  of  Washington.  "When  she  closed  the  address, 
she  gently  laid  a  beautiful  wreath  of  laurel  and  flowers  on  the  head  of 
the  venerable  man,  who  rewarded  the  little  spokeswoman  with  an 
affectionate  kiss. 

The  public  schools  had  now  become  so  popular  that  "  middle-class 
citizens,"  desirous  of  having  their  children  taught  in  them,  offered  to 
pay  for  tuition.  This  afforded  to  the  trustees  a  temptation  to  adopt  an 
injurious  measure.  There  had  Iwen  much  opposition  to  the  free  schools 
on  the  ground  that  those  who  accepted  the  Immmi  acknowledged  them- 
selves a  sorl  of  [Kiupers.  To  allay  this  feeling  the  society  considered  the 
propriety  of  converting  the  schools  into  pay  schools.  They  ascertained 
that  there  were  in  the  city  about  lour  hundred  pay  schools,  most  of 
them  small  and  miserably  conducted,  and  it  was  concluded  if  the 
studies  in  the  public  school  should  be  revised  and  greatly  extended,  and 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


305 


at  the  same  time  a  small  amount  of  pay  for  instruction  demanded,  they 
would  secure  the  personal  interest  and  patronage  of  the  large  and  im- 
portant class  of  citizens  who  supported  these  private  schools.  It  was 
proposed  to  consolidate  the  schools  of  the  Free  School  Society,  of  the 
Manumission  Society,  and  those  of  the  Female  Association  under  one 
organization  known  as  the  Public  School  Society. 

It  was  argued  that  the  proposed  scheme  would  be  a  more  democratic 
principle  in  the  schools,  where  the  rich  and  poor  would  meet  together  ; 
that  it  would  harmonize  religious  sects  ;  that  it  would  attract  more 
attention  and  support  to  the  public  schools,  and  secure  a  uniform  sys- 
tem in  all  elementary  schools  ;  also  to  foster  the  cultivation  of  a  proper 
feeling  of  independence  among  the  poor  and  laboring  classes. 

These  specious  arguments  prevailed,  and  in  January,  182G,  the  society 
procured  a  new  charter,  which  authorized  them,  under  the  title  of  the 
Public  School  Society,  to  receive  low  rates  of  payment  for  teaching, 
from  25  cents  to  $2  per  quarter.  Fifty  members  were  added  to  the 
trustees,  and  an  executive  committee  was  appointed,  consisting  of  five 
trustees  elected  by  ballot,  together  with  the  president,  vice-president, 
secretary,  and  treasurer,  and  the  chairman  of  each  of  the  several  local 
sections,  "  with  power  to  appoint  teachers  and  take  general  charge 
during  the  recess  of  the  board  of  trustees." 

This  committee  became  the  working  power  of  the  society.  New 
school-houses  were  erected  to  meet  the  expected  great  influx  of  pupils, 
and  the  course  of  studies  in  the  schools  was  greatly  extended.  Steps 
were  also  taken  for  establishing  a  normal  school  for  the  "  instruction  of 
tutors  and  monitors,"  for  the  Lancastrian  system  was  in  full  force. 

The  pay  system  speedily  proved  to  be  a  disastrous  failure.  Many  of 
those  who  had  never  paid  before  withdrew  their  children  ;  there  was 
great  difficulty  in  collecting  the  dues  from  parents  ;  many  insisted  that 
as  the  schools  received  money  from  the  State  school  fund,  there  existed 
no  right  to  demand  pay  from  individuals,  and  the  popularity  of  the 
public-school  system  rapidly  declined.  The  number  of  children  who 
came  in  from  the  private  schools  was  far  less  than  anticipated.  Many 
parents  paid  only  one  or  two  quarters,  so  as  to  have  their  children 
appear  on  the  pay-list,  and  never  paid  afterward.  The  register  of 
pupils  on  August  1,  1825,  showed  the  number  to  be  5919  ;  on  the  first 
of  May,  lN2t!,  the  day  when  the  new  law  went  into  operation,  it  had 
shrunk,  in  nine  months,  to  4654. 

The  trustees  struggled  against  fate  so  long  as  hope  remained,  but 
when  they  perceived  the  solid  ground  slipping  from  beneath  their  feet 
— the  grand  postulate  that  Zulu  cat  ion  is  n  rii/ht  appearing  like  a  new 


306 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


light  in  the  social  firmament — the  undoubted  signs  of  utter  and  disas- 
trous failure  appearing  on  every  side,  they  paused  to  consider.  They 
perceived,  among  the  most  alarming  symptoms  of  disintegration  of  the 
system,  the  growth  of  an  injurious  caste  spirit.  The  children  whose 
parents  paid  looked  down  upon  those  Avhose  parents  did  not  or  could 
not  pay.  They  also  discovered  that  the  doors  of  the  denominational 
free  schools  were  thrown  wide  open,  and  that  they  had  established 
cheap  pay  schools  which  were  drawing  many  children  from  the  public 
schools.  The  intelligence  of  the  period  had  outstripped  the  monitorial 
system,  which  had  become  a  hindrance,  and  the  clamor  for  assistant 
teachers  was  loud  and  powerful.  They  finally  gave  up  the  contest  and 
abolished  the  pay  system  altogether.  On  February  3,  1832,  public 
notice  was  given  that  the  public  schools  were  open  to  all  as  a  common 
right,  and  that  every  effort  would  be  made  to  render  them  attractive 
and  desirable  to  all  classes.  This  act  was  done  just  in  time  to  save  the 
public-school  system  from  ruin. 

From  the  beginning  the  Lancastrian  system  of  popular  education 
and  school  government  had  been  in  operation  in  the  public  schools  of 
New  York.  It  was  so  called  from  Joseph  Lancaster,  an  Fnglishman, 
who  at  the  beginning  of  this  century  introduced  into  England  a  method 
adopted  by  Dr.  Bell  at  the  English  hospital  in  Madras  in  1^95.  It 
consisted  of  the  employment  of  monitors,  or  really  assistants  of  the 
teacher,  composed  of  some  of  the  brightest  boys  and  girls  in  school, 
who  each  had  charge  of  the  discipline  and  tuition  of  a  section  of  the 
schools.  They  enforced  discipline  by  watchfulness  and  prompt  report- 
ing to  the  teacher,  and  taught  by  rote  under  his  instruction. 

This  system  was  intended  to  secure  the  public  teaching  of  children  in 
the  most  economical  way.  and  so  well  effected  its  purpose  for  years 
that  its  power  and  usefulness  were  much  praised.  Ordinarily  a 
teacher  could  not  well  manage  over  seventy  or  eighty  pupils  in  well- 
organized  classes  ;  by  the  monitorial  system  one  teacher  could  manage 
a  school  of  three  or  four  hundred  children. 

AVhile  the  Free  School  Society  in  New  York  was  preparing  to  begin 
operations,  one  of  its  members  being  in  England  visited  a  school  near 
London,  which  Lancaster  had  opened  in  1801.  He  was  deeply  im- 
pressed with  the  great  value  of  the  new  system,  and  on  his  return  he 
succeeded  in  persuading  the  society  to  adopt  the  system.  Lancaster 
was  a  Friend  or  Quaker,  and  when  he  came  to  Xew  York  in  1S20  the 
members  of  the  Society  who  were  Friends,  and  many  others,  received 
him  most  cordially.  But  he  had  nothing  new  to  offer.  The  system 
bearing  his  name  had  been  tested  for  years.    It  had  many  adherents 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


307 


and  as  many  opponents.  It  had  not  borne  the  anticipated  fruit.  lie 
acknowledged  that  he  had  only  trodden  in  the  footsteps  of  Dr.  Bell, 
and  was  not  the  originator  of  the  system.  Personally  he  was  not  very 
agreeable,  and  his  residence  in  this  country  did  not  advance  the  spread 
of  his  system.  It  gradually  declined  in  favor,  and  was  finally  aban- 
doned. 

Meanwhile  an  innovation  in  education  had  begun  to  develop  itself  in 
Xew  York.  It  was  a  practical  testing  of  the  system  of  Pestalozzi, 
who  sought  to  educate  infants  by  a  combination  of  industrial,  enter- 
taining, intellectual,  and  moral  instruction,  without  the  use  of  books, 
and  b}r  oral  and  object  teaching  entirely — the  fundamental  ideas  of 
the  kindergarten  system  of  Froebel. 

This  system  was  put  in  practice  in  New  York  by  an  association  of 
ladies  called  the  Infant  School  Society,  of  which  Mrs.  Joanna  Bethune 
was  the  chief  manager.  The  ages  of  the  children  instructed  ranged 
from  two  to  six  years.  At  that  time  the  public  schools  were  not 
graded,  and  the  youngest  children  were  taught  with  the  oldest  in  one 
department,  promiscuously.  The  trustees,  pleased. with  the  Pestaloz- 
zian  system,  ventured  upon  the  experiment  of  separating  the  younger 
children  from  the  older  pupils,  and  in  May,  1828,  an  infant  department 
was  opened  in  a  basement  of  one  of  the  public  schools,  and  the  counsel 
and  assistance  of  ladies  of  the  Infant  School  Society  (then  having  a 
school  of  one  hundred  and  seventy  pupils  in  Canal  Street)  solicited. 

In  the  new  organization  of  the  public  schools,  begun  in  1832  on  a 
positively  free  basis,  the  schools  were  graded.  They  were  classed — 
first,  as  "  public  schools,"  having  the  more  advanced  boys  and  girls  in 
separate  departments  ;  second,  '"primary  departments,"  which  were 
modified  infant  schools;  and  third,  ''primary  schools."  Both  the 
lower  orders  of  the  school  were  to  make  regular  promotions  to  the 
public  schools.  Radical  changes  were  made  in  the  upper  departments. 
The  course  of  study  was  greatly  extended,  assistant  teachers  were  em- 
ployed, and  separate  recitation-rooms  provided.  Paid  monitors  were 
retained.  Late  in  1832  the  managers  of  the  Manumission  Society 
proposed  to  transfer  the  six  or  seven  African  schools,  as  they  were 
called,  with  a  register  of  nearly  fourteen  hundred  pupils,  to  the  Public 
School  Society.    This  was  effected  in  183-1. 

In  the  summer  of  1832  the  medical  fraternity  and  the  various 
methods  of  therapeutics  in  New  Y'ork  were  severely  tested  on  the 
invasion  of  the  city  by  a  dreadful  scourge  called  the  Asiatic  cholera. 
Its  approach  westward  from  the  Orient  had  been  slow,  and  had  been 
watched  with  great  interest  by  medical  men  in  "Western  Europe  and  in 


308 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


the  United  States.  It  seems  to  have  started  westward  from  nearly  the 
same  point  in  Central  Asia  whence  the  great  Indo-European  migra- 
tions proceeded.  It  was  several  years  before  it  entered  Europe.  It 
reached  England  in  1831,  and  ravaged  the  United  Kingdom.    It  was 

©  1  ©  © 

carried  to  Quebec  in  the  spring  of  1832  in  Irish  emigrant  ships.  It 
spread  along  the  St.  Lawrence  River  to  the  great  lakes,  and  fearfully 
scourged  the  north-western  region  of  the  United  States. 

o  © 

Believing  the  dreadful  scourge  would  pass  across  the  continent  and 
disappear  without  touching  the  more  southerly  States,  very  few  sani- 
tary measures  were  adopted  in  the  city  of  Xew  York,  where  its  twin 
pestilence,  yellow  fever,  had  often  done  fearful  work.  But  when  the 
footsteps  of  the  destroyer  were  heard  in  the  valley  of  the  Upper  Hud- 
son, making  its  death-march  from  Montreal  in  the  direction  of  the  sea, 
the  city  authorities  of  Xew  York  took  measures  to  prevent  its  advent 
there  by  cleaning  the  streets.  But  this  was  not  done  until  the  grim 
visitor  was  at  the  threshold.  So  late  as  the  middle  of  July  one  of  the 
city  papers  said  : 

"  The  corporation  have  not  done  their  duty.  The  streets  have  at 
length  been  cleaned  ;  how  long  they  will  continue  to  be  kept  so  we 
know  not.  This,  laudable  event  was  accomplished,  not  as  it  should 
have  been,  when  the  dreaded  scourge  was  evidently  i*olling  westward 
— to  Newcastle,  London,  Paris,  Liverpool — not  even  when  it  blazed 
forth  in  Canada;  but  when  it  startled  us  by  rising  up  actually  in  the 
midst  of  us,  then  efficient  numbers  of  men  began  to  appear  with 
brooms,  and  the  streets  looked  less  filthy.  .  .  .  We  would  like  to 
see  a  man  with  such  decision  as  Napoleon  in  this  crisis.  He  would  not 
sit  in  his  arm-chair  and  recommend  people  to  do  this  and  to  do  that. 
He  would  never  rest  until  he  saw  it  done." 

Over  three  thousand  live  hundred  persons  were  swept  from  the  earth 
in  the  city  of  Xew  York  by  the  cholera  in  1832.  It  came  so  suddenly 
and  unexpectedly,  after  all,  that  it  created  a  fearful  panic,  a  night  of 
the  inhabitants  to  the  country,  and  a  great  paralysis  of  business.  It 
reappeared  in  ls.'!4,  killing  about  one  thousand  persons,  and  again  in 
lS-l'.t,  when  a  very  large  number  perished  from  this  pestilence.  In 
ls;,;>  three  hundred  and  seventy-four  persons  died  of  the  disease  in  Xew 
York.  Its  last  appearance  there,  with  power,  was  in  186(5,  when  more 
than  twelve  hundred  persons  died  of  the  disease. 

The  prominent  physicians  in  the  city  of  Xew  York  at  that  time  were 
Drs.  Ilosaek,  Francis,  Molt,  Macneven,  Post,  Griscom,  Stearns,  Willard 
Parker,  Gray,  and  others.  Some  were  veterans  ;  some  physicians  not 
here  named  were  then  aspirants  for  the  fame  they  afterward  enjoyed. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


During  the  quarter  of  the  century  previous  to  the  dreadful  pesti- 
lence medical  science  had  made  wonderful  strides  toward  perfection  in 
the  city.  Medical  institutions  had  vastly  increased  the  means  for 
diffusing  professional  enlightenment,  and  collateral  branches  of  science 
had  come  to  the  aid  of  the  medical  profession  with  generous  power, 
with  improved  apparatus,  and  with  positive  knowledge  taught  by  phi- 
losophy. Medical  and  scientific  literature  had  been  far  more  extensively 
and  persistently  cultivated  than  before,  and  the  practical  displays  of 
clinical  science  had  begun  to  furnish  instruction  to  the  masters  of  the 
medical  art  abroad.  Collegiate  education  among  practitioners  had 
become  far  more  extensively  diffused  than  formerly,  and  the  profession 
had  become  fully  awake  to  the  wisdom  of  Dr.  Abernethy's  words  : 
"  The  hospital  is  the  college  to  build  up  the  practitioners." 

At  the  time  of  the  outbreak  of  the  cholera  in  Xew  York  City  the 
skill,  zeal,  and  benevolence  of  the  medical  faculty  were  conspicuous  ; 
but  these  qualities  were  not  properly  complemented  by  vigilance  and 
energy  wisely  directed  on  the  part  of  the  municipal  authorities.  To 
this  allusion  has  already  been  made.  Had  the  city  then,  as  now,  pos- 
sessed an  energetic  and  enlightened  sanitary  commission,  or  board  of 
health,  to  co-operate  with  the  physicians  by  diminishing  the  causes  of 
disease,  probably  one  half  of  the  victims  of  cholera  might  have  been 
saved  from  death.  The  city  then,  as  now,  possessed  great  topographi- 
cal advantages  for  the  conservation  of  health,  but  either  from  igno- 
rance or  indifference  the  public  mind  seemed  stupefied,  and  could  not, 
even  by  such  dreadful  shocks  as  those  given  by  yellow  fever  and  the 
cholera,  comprehend  the  vital  importance  of  employing  every  sanitary 
remedy  in  their  power  for  foiling  the  destructive  dragon  of  disease. 

There  was,  indeed,  a  Health  Department  of  the  city  government, 
which  had  been  established  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature  passed  March 
26,  1813,  to  "  provide  against  infectious  diseases.''  Its  functions  were 
divided  into  two  classes  of  operation — one  to  guard  against  the  recur- 
rence of  pestilential  diseases  from  abroad,  and  the  other  to  guard 
against  their  origination  from  any  domestic  cause.  The  first  class  was 
composed  of  the  health  officer,  the  health  commission,  and  a  resident 
physician,  all  appointed  b\r  the  governor  and  having  cognizance  of  the 
affairs  at  Quarantine  and  the  Marine  Hospital  on  Staten  Island.  The 
other  class — the  guardians  of  the  health  of  the  city  against  internal 
dangers  originating  there — was  composed  of  the  mayor,  recorder,  and 
aldermen,  appointed  annually  by  the  common  council.  It  might  con- 
sist of  as  many  persons  as  should  be  thought  proper,  but  as  a  rule  only 
the  functionaries  mentioned  composed  the  Health  Department  of  the 


310 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


city  proper.  Their  duties  consisted  in  enforcing  the  State  and  munici- 
pal laws  which  related  to  the  public  health,  and  the  enacting  of  laws 
and  ordinances  respecting  the  removal  of  nuisances  and  the  preserva- 
tion of  cleanliness. 

In  the  spring  of  1834  the  mayor  of  New  York  City  was  elected  by 
the  people  for  the  first  time  in  its  history.  Party  politics  then  ran 
high.  Never  since  the  marshalling  of  the  hosts  of  the  Federal  and 
Republican  parties  for  the  mighty  conflict  for  the  prize  of  the  Presi- 
dency of  the  United  States  at  the  close  of  the  last  century  had  party 
spirit  appeared  so  virulent  and  uncompromising. 

The  energetic  administration  of  President  Jackson  had  won  for  him 
a  host  of  warm  adherents  and  arrayed  against  him  a  host  of  bitter 
opponents.  The  heroic  methods  of  his  warfare  against  the  United 
States  Bank  had  intensified  the  animosity  of  his  political  enemies  to  a 
degree  almost  incredible. 

Nowhere  was  party  spirit  more  implacable  than  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  and  nowhere  were  more  dangerous  elements  of  society  seen 
menacing  the  sanctity  of  the  ballot-box  than  in  New  York  at  this 
juncture.  Easy  naturalization  laws,  as  Ave  have  observed,  had  created, 
out  of  often  ignorant  and  sometimes  depraved  foreign  immigrants, 
American  citizens,  endowed  with  all  the  tremendous  power  for  good  or 
ill  which  a  secret  ballot  implies  in  a  republic,  and  disposed  to  wield 
their  power  as  demagogues  might  direct.  Both  political  parties  sought 
the  control  of  the  votes  of  the  new-born  citizens.  It  gravitated  to  the 
Democratic  side  in  politics,  the  idea  involved  in  the  name  democrat 
having  a  potent  influence  in  their  decision. 

At  the  time  under  consideration  the  Democratic  majority  in  the  city 
was  very  large,  but  a  fend  was  then  distracting  the  organization,  dis- 
turbing its  harmony,  weakening  its  power,  and  shaking  its  integrity  to 
its  foundations.  Influenced  by  the  teachings  of  Fanny  Wright,  a 
strong-minded  Scotch  woman  who  had  lectured  extensively  in  the 
United  States  in  the  inculcation  of  a  sort  of  social  communism,  an 
"  Equal  Bights  party,"  as  it  called  itself,  had  grown  to  quite  a  power- 
ful faction  in  the  Democratic  party.  It  had  great  influence  in  the 
councils  of  Tammany  Hall,  the  rallying-place  of  the  party,  and  the 
result  was  a  split  early  in  1834.  At  a  meeting  at  Tammany  Hall, 
where  the  two  factions  were  assembled,  each  assumed  the  leadership. 

Bitter  strife  ensued.  Both  parties  claimed  the  right  to  the  chair 
and  the  management  of  the  meeting.  Yiolent  words  were  speedily 
followed  by  violent  action.  One  party  made  a  rush  to  remove  the 
chairman  and  his  fellow-officers  by  force.    A  grand  row  ensued,  and 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


31 L 


considerable  personal  violence  was  used.  During  the  fracas  some  one 
turned  off  the  gas,  leaving  the  room  in  darkness.  One  of  the  Equal 
Bights  men,  or  Radicals,  having  some  loco-foco  matches  in  his  pocket, 
relighted  the  lamps,  and  the  business  of  the  meeting  proceeded.  "  I 
was  one  of  the  vice-presidents,"  wrote  one  of  the  actors,  "and  was 
compelled  to  buy  a  new  suit  of  clothes  the  next  day,  and  in  a  short 
time  the  whole  Democratic  party  were  known  as  Loco-Foeos." 

The  opponents  of  the  Democrats  were  then  called  Whigs.  They 
had  recently  been  so  named  by  Colonel  James  Watson  Webb,  the  chief 
editor  and  proprietor  of  the  New  York  Courier  ami  Enquirer.  While 
attending  a  convention  of  the  Anti-Masonic  party  at  Philadelphia  in 
which  nominated  William  AVirt  for  the  Presidency  of  the  United 
States,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  his  journal  over  his  own  proper  signature, 
giving  an  account  of  the  convention,  in  which  he  pointed  out  the  folly 
of  the  opponents  of  General  Jackson  wasting  their  energies  by  being 
cut  up  into  different  factions,  such  as  Anti-Masons,  Anti-Slavery  men, 
Republicans,  National  Republicans,  etc.  He  set  forth  the  importance 
of  union  under  one  head — one  rallying  name — to  fight  what  he  deemed 
the  dangerous  Democracy.  He  reminded  his  political  friends,  aside 
from  the  great  issues  of  the  tariff  and  the  United  States  Bank,  that 
they  were  fighting  for  the  restriction  of  executive  power  against  those 
who  were  laboring  to  increase  it,  as  Jackson  had  practised  in  his  war 
against  the  bank,  the  currency,  and  the  tariff  ;  that  they  were,  in 
fact,  battling  for  the  Constitution  against  Executive  usurpation. 

''We  are  therefore  Whigs,"  he  said,  "while  our  opponents  are 
waging  war  to  sustain  the  Executive  in  his  usurpations  of  power,  and 
in  so  doing  they  are  Tories  !  Why  not,  then,  take  to  ourselves  the 
name  of  Whigs,  which  represents  our  principles,  and  give  to  our  oppo- 
nents the  name  of  Tories  ?" 

Colonel  Webb  proceeded  to  show  that  many  of  the  evils  under  which 
the  country  was  suffering  emanated  from  the  President  being  eligible 
to  re-election,  and  he  urgently  recommended  the  great  opposition 
meeting,  that  was  to  assemble  at  Masonic  Hall  in  Broadway,  to  adopt 
for  those  opposed  to  General  Jackson's  re-election  the  name  of  Whig, 
and  to  give  to  their  opponents  that  of  Tory.  He  also  urged  the  adop- 
tion of  a  resolution  in  favor  of  the  one-term  principle. 

Colonel  Webb's  letter  was  published  on  the  morning  of  the  day  that 
the  great  meeting  at  Tammany  Hall  took  place.    Philip  Hone  *  pre- 

*  Philip  Hone  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  men  of  New  York  City,  where  he 
was  born  in  1781,  and  where  he  died  on  May  4,  1851.    He  exerted  a  marked  influence  in 


312 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


sided  at  the  meeting,  and  on  taking  the  chair  he  read  the  letter  to  the 
people  and  suggested  the  adoption  of  the  name  of  Whig  for  the  great 
opposition  party.  The  response  was  unanimous,  not  only  at  the  meet- 
ing assembled  at  Masonic  Hall,  but  by  the  opposition  press  and  people 
all  over  the  country.  So  it  was  that  the  great  historic  political  organi- 
zation known  as  the  Whig  party  received  its  name  in  1832. 

At  the  time  of  the  municipal  election  in  New  York  in  the  spring  of 
1834,  the  AVI lig  party,  thoroughly  organized,  was  strong  in  numbers  and 
influence,  while  the  Democratic  party  was  weakened  by  strife  within 
its  ranks.  This  state  of  things  promised  a  hot  contest  for  the  mayor- 
alty, and  there  were  forebodings  of  personal  conflicts  at  the  polls.  At 
that  time  the  election  continued  three  days. 

Gideon  Lee,  the  eminent  leather  merchant  of  The  Swamp,  was  then 
mayor  of  the  city,  and  a  Democrat  in  politics.*  Cornelius  W.  Law- 
politics,  commerce,  and  social  life  in  New  York  for  more  than  forty  years.  With  his 
brother  he  was  a  successful  business  man,  amassed  a  fortune,  and  retired  from  the  marts, 
but  not  from  active  citizenship.  He  was  ever  ardently  devoted  to  whatever  measures 
tended  to  the  promotion  of  the  prosperity  and  honor  of  his  native  city.  He  was  its  chief 
magistrate  in  1825-20,  and  was  a  model  mayor.  He  was  one  of  the  chief  founders  of  the 
Mercantile  Library,  and  also  of  the  New  York  Atben:r>um.  The  latter  institution  was 
largely  indebted  to  him  for  its  early  prosperity.  Mr.  Hone  was  ever  nn  active  and  abiding 
promoter  of  literature  and  art,  and  while  he  lived  he  was  a  conspicuous  actor  in  all  the 
more  elevated  social  movements  in  the  city.  A  genuine  New  Yorker  of  the  Knicker- 
bocker race,  he  was  enlightened  and  progressive.  The  Hone  Club,  an  association  of  rare 
spirits,  was  so  named  in  his  honor.  President  Taylor  appointed  Mr.  Hone  naval  officer 
for  the  port  of  New  York  in  1810,  in  the  duties  of  which  he  was  engaged  at  the  time  of 
his  death. 

*  (iideon  Lee  was  born  in  Amherst,  Mass.,  on  April  27,  1778.  His  father  died  when 
Gideon  was  very  young,  and  the  boy  was  apprenticed  to  a  tanner  and  shoemaker  (these 
pursuits  then  l.eing  carried  on  together)  at  fourteen  years  of  age.  He  worked  at  tanning 
in  the  summer  and  shoemaking  in  the  winter. 

Lee  began  business  on  his  own  account  when  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age,  at 
Worthington,  Mass.  His  early  education  was  very  meagre,  and  the  first  money  he  could 
spare  from  his  younp  manhood's  earnings  he  spent  in  acquiring  knowledge  at  Westfield 
Academy.  He  formed  a  partnership  with  Mr.  Hubbard,  and  Lee  &  Hubbard  tanned  leather 
for  the  firm  of  Dwight  ft  Edwards,  quite  extensive  dealers  in  leather.  In  1807  he  went 
to  New  York  to  act  as  agent  for  the  sale  of  their  leather  there,  at  a  salary  of  $1000  a  year. 

The  next  year  Mr.  Lee  hired  a  store  in  The  Swamp  of  Jacob  Lorillard,  and  set  up  in 
business  for  himself  at  the  corner  of  Jacob  and  Ferry  streets,  which  he  called  "  Fort 
Lee."  The  whole  business  of  The  Swamp  was  then  small.  One  firm  now  does  almost  as 
much  business  in  a  year  as  the  aggregate  firms  in  that  locality  did  then.  The  usual 
practice  with  the  leather  dealers  then  was  to  make  annual  settlements.  Mr.  Lee  was  the 
first  to  depart  from  the  custom,  and  to  sell  on  time,  taking  negotiable  notes  in  payment. 

In  1808  he  became  the  agent  of  the  Hampton  Leather  Manufacturing  Company,  and 
soon  won  for  himself  a  high  name  for  energy  and  fidelity. 

In  1817  the  New  York  Tannery  was  established  by  a  stock  company,  of  which  Mr.  Lee 


FIRST  DECADE,  1330-1840. 


313 


rence,  of  the  auction  house  of  Hicks,  Lawrence  &  Co.,  was  the  Demo- 
cratic candidate  for  the  mayoralty,  and  Gulian  C.  Yerplanck  was  the 
opposing  candidate.  The  election  was  begun  on  Tuesday,  the  8th  of 
April,  and  ended  on  Thursday  evening,  the  10th.    All  votes  were  then 


election  consumes  only  one  day  between  sunrise  and  sunset. 

The  morning  of  the  Sth  was  dark  and  stormy.    A  chilling  rain  fell 

was  conspicuous.  Its  capital  was  $00,000.  The  factory  was  entirely  under  cover,  and 
could  tan  10,000  hides  a  year.  It  was  planned  by  Mr.  Lee,  and  was  the  first  so  built.  Its 
first  product  was  sent  to  market  in  1818,  when  the  novel  plan  of  selling  leather  by  auction 
was  first  introduced.  He  had  erected  on  land  bought  in  1815,  in  Ferry  Street,  what  was 
then  regarded  as  a  very  spacious  warehouse,  a  two-story  brick  building,  in  which  the 
leather  was  hoisted  by  horse  power — a  great  novelty  then. 

Mr.  Lee  had  a  clerk  of  most  excellent  character.  He  was  energetic  in  business,  and 
honest  and  true  in  all  his  transactions.  Knowing  his  worth,  he  took  him  into  partner- 
ship in  1810.  That  clerk  was  the  afterward  well-known  and  kighly-esteemtid  Shepherd 
Knapp.  The  firm  of  Lee  &  Knapp  flourished  without  intermission  twenty  years.  The 
auction  sales  became  an  institution  in  The  Swamp.  Other  dealers  soon  followed  suit. 
Manufacturers  came  from  the  adjacent  States  to  attend  them,  to  lay  in  supplies  of 
leather.  On  the  day  of  sales  a  table  would  be  spread  with  plenty  of  "  meat  and  drink.'' 
Lee  &  Knapp  also  engaged  largely  in  the  business  of  stocking  tanneries  with  hides  and 
selling  the  leather  on  commission. 

Mr.  Lee  was  uniformly  prosperous  in  his  business  undertakings,  and  while  he  was  not 
a  politician  in  the  common  meaning  of  the  term,  he  was  a  man  of  strong  political  con- 
victions. In  1822  he  represented  his  district  in  the  Assembly  of  the  State  of  New  York. 
In  1828-29  and  1830  he  was  alderman  of  the  Twelfth  "Ward,  and  in  1833-34  he  was 
mayor  of  the  city.  It  was  during  his  mayoralty  that  the  famous  "  election  riots"  of  1834 
took  place,  in  which  trying  time  he  displayed  energy  and  wisdom.  He  declined  a  re- 
election. 

In  1835  Mr.  Lee  was  elected  a  member  of  Congress,  and  served  two  consecutive  terms 
by  re-election.  In  1840  he  was  chosen  presidential  elector.  He  had  retired  from  busi- 
ness in  1839,  when  the  old  firm  was  succeeded  by  his  son-in-law,  Charles  M.  Leupp,  and 
John  Burke.  In  1830  Mr.  Lee  built  his  lofty  store  in  Ferry  Street,  the  first  structure 
over  two  stories  in  height  built  in  the  neighborhood. 

Mr.  Lee  was  twice  married — first  in  1807  to  Miss  Buffington,  who  died  in  1818,  and  in 
1823  to  Miss  Isabella  Williams,  daughter  of  a  Scotch  clergyman.  He  lived  some  years  in 
Frankfort  Street,  afterward  near  the  present  Astor  Place,  and  finally  built  a  fine  house 
on  Bond  Street,  which  became  the  fashionable  part  of  the  city.  During  the  last  few 
years  of  his  life  his  residence  was  at  Geneva,  N.  Y.,  where  he  died,  August  21,  1841,  at 
the  age  of  sixty-three  years,  leaving  a  large  estate  and  an  honored  and  stainless  name. 
Alluding  to  a  report  of  the  failure  of  his  house  during  the  panic  of  1837,  Mr.  Lee  said  : 
"  I  commenced  business  when  I  was  poor,  on  credit  ;  I  thrived  by  credit  ;  and  I  will 
sacrifice  my  property  before  that  credit  shall  be  dishonored.  I  have  carried  the  lapstone, 
and  can  do  it  again,  but  I  will  never  suffer  a  promise  of  mine  to  be  broken.' ' 

"  Mr.  Lee  was  justly  called  the  '  father  of  the  leather  trade,'  "  says  a  writer  in  th9 
Shoe  and  Leather  Reporter,  published  by  Isaac  H.  Bailey,  from  which  the  principal  facts  in 
the  foregoing  sketch  were  obtained. 


314 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


copiously  until  nearly  ten  o'clock,  but  it  did  not  dampen  the  ardor  of 
the  opposing  hosts  of  voters.  The  popular  feeling  was  at  fever  heat, 
and  men  went  through  the  storm  in  crowds  to  the  polls,  some  to  de- 
posit an  honest  vote,  and  some  to  vote  "  early  and  often."  It  was  the 
opening  of  the  most  exciting  election  ever  held  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  Many  left  their  places  of  business  with  subordinates,  deter- 
mined to  "  fight  it  out"  with  moral  weapons  to  the  bitter  end  ;  many 
others  went  from  their  abodes  determined  to  fiidit  it  out  with  brute 

O 

force  if  necessary.  The  Democrats  were  determined  to  elect  their 
candidate  ;  the  Whigs  were  determined  to  elect  theirs.  "  When 
Greek  meets  Greek,  then  comes  the  tug  of  war." 

The  Democrats  were  deeply  incensed  by  the  undemocratic  name  of 
Tories  which  the  Whigs  applied  to  them,  and  were  especially  offended 
with  the  editor  of  the  Courier  and  Enquirer  as  the  originator  of  the 
opprobrious  title.  Much  wrath  was  directed  toward  him  and  his  pub- 
lishing establishment,  as  we  shall  observe  presently. 

There  were  evidences  visible  at  an  early  hour  in  the  election  that 
there  was  a  determination  on  the  part  of  some  demagogues  to  use  the 
brute  force  of  ignorant  naturalized  citizens,  in  wards  where  they  largely 
abounded,  in  driving  the  Whigs  from  the  polls.  The  latter  had  un- 
fairly, in  accordance  with  the  vicious  maxim,  "  All's  fair  in  politics," 
wrested  the  words  of  President  Jackson,  4k  Perish  credit,  perish 
commerce,"  from  their  proper  context,  and  had  used  them  to  inflame 
the  business  community  against  him  and  his  supporters. 

These  words  were  posted  all  over  the  city  in  huge  letters,  and  pro- 
duced great  excitement  and  determination.  The  seamen  in  the  port 
naturally  coalesced  with  the  Whigs.  They  rigged  up  a  little  frigate 
which  they  named  the  CoTistiiution,  mounted  it  on  wheels,  and  with 
Whig  banners  floating  over  it  paraded  it  past  the  polls  in  different 
wards.  In  Wall  Street,  the  focal  point  of  commercial  transactions,  it 
was  greeted  with  great  enthusiasm.  At  twelve  o'clock  the  Merchants' 
Exchange  was  closed,  the  national  flag  was  unfurled  over  its  loftv 
dome,  and  its  inmates  and  frequenters,  with  many  others,  unmindful  of 
the  mud  and  drizzling  rain,  fell  into  a  procession  behind  the  little  vessel. 

To  counteract  the  effect  of  this  demonstration,  the  Democrats  hastily 
fitted  up  a  boat,  mounted  it  on  wheels,  and  raised  a  flag  over  it  bearing 
the  word  u  Veto"  in  large  letters.  The  two  vessels  went  through  the 
streets  side  by  side  for  a  while,  the  recipients,  respectively,  of  approv- 
ing huzzas  and  bitter  execrations.  It  was  evident  that  a  collision 
would  occur,  but  the  authorities  seemed  powerless  to  suppress  these 
demonstrations. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


315 


In  most  of  the  strong-  Democratic  wards,  where  the  voting  was 
largely  on  one  side,  there  was  (piiet,  but  in  the  Sixth  Ward,  where 
there  was  a  large  alien  population,  a  storm  soon  gathered  and  hurst 
in  fury.  It  was  evident  mob  law  reigned  in  the  vicinity  of  the  polls 
there.  Men  were  gathered  in  a  mass,  yelling  and  threatening  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Whig  committee-room. 

Some  were  seen  brandishing  clubs,  and  even  knives.  The  tumult 
greAV  louder  and  louder.  At  length  some  roughs,  led  by  an  ex-alder- 
man, made  a  rush  for  the  committee-room,  where  their  opponents  were 
gathered  in  a  considerable  number.  Before  these  could  offer  resist- 
ance, so  sudden  and  fierce  was  the  attack  that  in  a  few  minutes  nearly 
twenty  had  been  felled  bleeding  to  the  floor,  and  one  was  carried  out 
in  a  <lying  condition.  Some  of  those  who  escaped  to  the  street  were 
hatless,  and  with  torn  garments.  The  mob  tore  down  all  the  political 
banners,  destroyed  the  ballots,  and  made  a  wreck  of  everything. 

The  outrages  fearfully  excited  the  opposition  party,  and  it  was  deter- 
mined to  take  vigorous  measures  for  the  defence  of  the  ballot-boxes 
and  the  voters  on  the  morrow.  A  call  was  issued  for  a  meeting  of  the 
Whigs  at  Masonic  Hall  that  evening.  The  room  was  crowded.  Four 
thousand  Whigs  were  there.  General  Bogrardus  was  called  to  the 
chair,  and  the  following  preamble  and  resolutions  were  adopted  by 
unanimous  vote  : 

"  Wltereas,  The  authority  of  the  police  of  the  city  has  heen  set  at  defiance  by  a  band 
of  hirelings,  mercenaries,  and  bullies  in  the  Sixth  Ward,  and  the  lives  of  our  citizens  put 
in  jeopardy  ;  and  whereas,  it  is  evident  we  are  in  a  state  of  anarchy,  w  hich  requires 
the  prompt  and  efficient  interposition  of  every  friend  of  good  order  who  is  disposed  to 
sustain  the  Constitution  and  laws  :  therefore  be  it 

"  Resolved,  That,  in  order  to  preserve  the  peace  of  the  city,  and  especially  of  the  Sixth 
Ward,  the  friends  of  the  Constitution  and  the  liberties  of  the  citizen  will  meet  at  this 
place  [Masonic  Hall]  to-morrow  (Wednesday)  at  half-past  seven  o'clock  a.m.,  and  repair 
to  the  Sixth  Ward  poll  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  it  open  to  all  voters,  until  such  time  as 
the  official  authorities  shall  procure  a  sufficient  number  of  special  constables  to  keep  the 
peace. 

"  Resolved,  That  while  at  the  Sixth  Ward  poll,  those  who  are  not  residents  thereof  w  ill 
not  take  part  in  the  election,  but  simply  act  as  conservators  of  the  peace,  until  such  time 
as  the  majesty  of  the  laws  shall  be  acknowledged  and  respected." 

This  preamble  and  the  resolutions  were  adopted  by  acclamation  and 
the  most  significant  demonstrations  of  approval.  But  the  resolutions 
proposed  no  specific  action  the  next  day  that  promised  to  be  efficient : 
only  the  passive  attendance  of  the  Whigs  in  numbers  sufficient  to  over- 
awe the  turbulent  element.  A  bolder  and  more  effective  course  was 
proposed  by  the  editor  of  the  Courier  and  Enquirer.    Colonel  Webb 


316 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


arose,  after  the  adoption  of  the  resolutions,  and  reminded  the  thou- 
sands present  that  action  was  more  necessary  than  talking,  and  he  in- 
vited less  than  three  hundred  resolute  and  patriotic  citizens  to  meet  him 
at  the  "Whig  headquarters  the  next  morning  at  six  o'clock. 

At  the  appointed  time  Colonel  "Webb  "was  met  by  more  men  than  he 
needed.  They  were  all  armed  for  defence,  if  necessary.  Accompanied 
by  about  two  hundred,  he  marched  to  the  City  Hall,  where  they  were 
all  sworn  in  by  the  sheriff  as  special  constables,  and  appropriate  badges 
were  distributed  among  them.  They  then  marched  to  the  Sixth  Ward 
poll,  where  they  found  the  Irish  assembled.  Colonel  Webb  made  a 
speech  to  them,  reminding  tbem  of  their  conduct  on  the  previous  day, 
and  told  them  he  and  his  associates  were  there  as  officers  of  the  law, 
and  were  armed,  not  to  interfere  with  the  legal  rights  of  any  man,  but 
to  protect  the  rights  of  ail,  and  should  only  use  their  arms  to  preserve 
the  peace,  and  to  secure  to  all  the  free  exercise  of  their  right  to  vote. 
The  crowd  swore  and  threatened,  but  the  special  constables  showing  a 
determined  front,  they  confined  their  demonstrations  to  oaths  and 
menaces. 

There  were  two  doors  to  the  polling-room,  the  one  for  the  entrance 
of  voters,  the  other  for  their  egress.  To  each  of  the  doors  Colonel 
Webb  formed  a  double  line  of  determined  men,  and  every  voter  was 
compelled  to  pass  through  the  lane  thus  formed  to  the  door  of  entrance 
and  the  ballot-box,  and  when  the  voters  had  deposited  their  ballots  a 
body  of  special  constables  conducted  them  to  the  door  of  exit,  and  com- 
pelled each  voter,  separate  and  alone,  to  pass  into  the  street.  Thus,  in 
the  midst  of  much  loud  talking  and  threatening,  everybody  was  pro- 
tected in  the  exercise  of  the  precious  right  to  vote  without  illegal 
hindrance.  Colonel  "Webb  marched  back  to  headquarters  at  Masonic 
Hall  the  special  constables  not  wanted  at  the  Sixth  "Ward  poll,  and 
enjoined  them  to  be  in  readiness  for  action  in  case  they  were  needed 
anywhere. 

That  night  came  the  crisis.  Thousands  of  rioters  paraded  the  streets, 
threatening  violence  and  creating  universal  anxiety  and  alarm  in  the 
city.  An  enormous  mob  assembled  in  the  City  Hall  Park,  threatening 
vengeance  upon  everybody,  especially  the  mayor  and  common  council 
then  in  session.  It  was  soon  reported  to  that  body  that  at  the  Sixth 
"Ward  poll,  near  the  City  Hall,  the  Irish  had  erected  a  very  large  cross, 
which  bore  a  banner,  and  on  it  was  inscribed,  in  large  letters,  "  Dowx 
with  the  Courier  and  Enquirer  building  ;"  and  after  the  fashion  in 
Ireland  in  such  cases  the  people  were  marched  by  it,  when  each  one 
touched  the  cross,  and  by  so  doing  was  sworn  to  do  what  the  banner 


FIRST  DECADE,  1S30-1840. 


317 


proclaimed.  In  adroit  speeches  to  the  mob  in  the  Park,  demagogues 
urged  the  rioters  to  proceed  to  Wall  Street  and  destroy  the  obnoxious 
building  and  its  contents. 

The  danger  was  imminent.  The  common  council  became  alarmed, 
and  appointed  James  G.  King  (of  the  firm  of  Prime,  Ward  Sz  King, 
bankers)  and  his  brother,  Charles  King*  (afterward  president  of  Co- 
lumbia College),  a  deputation  to  go  to  the  office  of  the  Courier  and 
Enquirer  and  warn  Colonel  "Webb  of  his  peril.  They  performed  the 
mission,  and  as  the  city  government  could  afford  "Webb  no  protection, 
these  gentlemen  requested  that  he  would  close  the  office  and  leave  it  to 
its  fate,  as  resistance  and  bloodshed  would  only  increase  the  general 
danger. 

The  office  of  the  Courier  and  Enquirer  was  on  the  first  floor  of  No. 
5S  "Wall  Street.  These  gentlemen  found  it  all  lighted  up  as  usual,  the 
doors  wide  open,  for  the  evening  was  warm,  and  piles  of  printing  paper 
in  bundles  were  arranged  in  each  of  the  two  large  windows,  six  feet 
in  height.  Colonel  "Webb  told  the  deputation  to  say  to  the  mayor  and 
the  common  council  that  he  had  not  asked  for  nor  did  he  want  their 
protection  ;  that  his  usual  hour  for  closing  his  office  was  ten  o'clock, 
but  that  on  this  occasion  it  would  be  kept  open,  with  all  the  lights 
burning,  all  night  ;  that  he  had  in  the  building  seventy  muskets  and 
plenty  of  ammunition,  a  hundred  pistols  (no  revolvers  then),  and  at 
that  moment  not  less  than  thirty  of  the  best-known  young  merchants, 
who  had  volunteered  to  stand  by  him,  were  in  the  office.  lie  told 
them  also  that  he  had  on  the  roof  of  his  five-story  building  five  loads 
of  paving-stones,  any  one  of  which  dropped  on  the  head  of  a  rioter 
in  the  street  was  as  certain  to  disable  him  as  a  musket-ball. 

*  Charles  King,  LL.D.,  a  journalist  and  scholar,  was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York 
March  16,  1789.  He  was  a  son  of  the  eminent  Rufus  King.  While  his  father  was 
United  States  minister  in  London,  he  was  sent  to  Harrow  School  and  to  a  preparatory 
school  in  Paris.  On  the  return  of  his  father  to  America  he  was  placed  in  a  banking- 
house  in  Amsterdam.  He  returned  to  New  York  in  1806,  and  in  1810  he  married  a 
daughter  of  the  eminent  merchant  Archibald  Gracie,  and  became  associated  with  his 
father-in-law  in  business.  In  1813  he  was  a  member  of  the  New  York  Legislature,  and 
the  next  year  he  was  a  volunteer  in  the  army.  Mr.  King  became  connected  with  Gillian 
C.  Yerplanck  in  the  publication  of  the  New  York  American  in  1823.  Mr.  Yerplanck 
retired  in  1827,  and  Mr.  King  remained  sole  editor  for  twenty  years.  In  1840  he  was 
chosen  president  of  Columbia  College,  which  post  he  resigned  in  1864.  Mr.  King  died 
near  Rome,  Italy,  September  27,  1867.  He  was  sent  to  England  after  the  war  of  1812  to 
investigate  the  treatment  of  American  captives  in  Dartmoor  prison.  He  did  not  hesitate 
to  exonerate  the  British  authorities  from  all  censure  in  the  matter,  and  thereby  he  drew 
upon  himself  a  storm  of  indignation  from  his  countrymen,  which  was  not  allayed  for 
long  years  afterward. 


318 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


The  Messrs.  King  assured  Colonel  Webb  that  they  felt  certain  what 
his  answer  would  be,  or  they  would  not  have  consented  to  bear  to  him 
the  message  of  the  common  council. 

After  much  speaking  and  threatening  in  the  City  Hall  Park,  the 
mob  moved  down  William  Street  toward  Wall  Street.  Colonel 
Webb  had  his  agents  out,  who  reported  to  him  from  time  to  time. 
For  a  while  their  reports  were  simply  that  the  rioters  were  advancing, 
but  Avhen  they  reached  Maiden  Lane  the  front  files,  cowards,  as  all 
rioters  are,  rapidly  fell  off  and  passed  to  the  rear.  When  they  had 
readied  Pine  Street  the  rear  had  become  the  front,  and  when  the 
crowd  reached  Wall  Street,  instead  of  wheeling  for  the  Courier  office 
tbe  mob  crossed  the  street,  moved  into  Pearl  Street,  and  when  they 
bad  again  reached  Wall  Street  appeared  entirely  demoralized.  A  large 
crowd  passed  up  the  street  to  the  Cour'n r  office,  when  Colonel  Webb 
simply  closed  the  door  and  awaited  events. 

The  dense  crowd  filled  the  street  in  front,  which  was  quite  brightly 
lighted  by  a  lamp,  and  began  groaning,  threatening,  and  knocking 
their  chilis,  banner  staves,  and  missiles  of  all  kinds  against  the  building, 
exciting  themselves  to  a  dangerous  degree,  when  Colonel  Webb  seized 
a  musket,  broke  it  through  a  pane  of  glass,  and  gave  notice  that  when 
he  found  it  covered  a  rioter  he  should  tire.  He  then  passed  the  muzzle 
of  the  "'mi  slowly  up  the  street,  when  away  scampered  the  cowards. 
He  then  slowly  turned  it  down  Wall  Street,  with  the  same  notice,  and 
it  was  amusing  to  see  how  rapidly  the  street  was  cleared  of  the  redoubt- 
able Irishmen.  A  portion  of  the  mob  passed  up-town  to  Colonel 
Webb's  residence,  in  Bleeeker  Street,  but  contented  themselves  with 
groans,  yells,  and  ringing  his  door-bell. 

In  the  forenoon  of  the  next  day  (April  10th)  there  was  a  fierce  col- 
lision between  the  sailors  with  the  little  frigate;  Constitution  which  was 
used  to  convey  voters  to  the  polls,  and  their  opponents,  near  Masonic 
Hall,  in  Broadway.  Hearing  the  affray,  many  Whigs  went  out  of  the 
hall  to  assist  the  seamen,  and  a  severe  battle  with  fists  and  missiles 
occurred.  Word  being  sent  to  the  Sixth  "Ward  poll,  a  huge  number  of 
fighting  men  there  rushed  up  Duane  Street  and  drove  the  Whigs  back 
into  their  headquarters.  The  mob  then  attacked  the  building,  smash- 
ing its  windows  and  attempting  to  force  an  entrance.  Mayor  Lee  was 
sent  for.  He  came,  with  one  or  two  aldermen,  and  mounting  the  steps 
of  the  building,  raised  his  staff  of  office.  The  crowd,  maddened  with 
liquor  and  aroused  passions,  gave  no  heed  to  the  symbol  of  authority, 
but  hurled  missiles  at  the  magistrate.  One  of  these  knocked  him 
down,  and  he  was  quite  severely  beaten. 


FIRST  DECADE,  18^0-134tt 


319 


A  rumor  was  now  circulated  at  Masonic  Hall  that  rioters  were 
attempting  to  break  open  the  arsenal,  situated  on  the  corner  of  White 
and  Elm  streets,  to  procure  arms.  There  was  a  cry,  "  To  the  arsenal  ! 
To  the  arsenal  !"  and  the  Whigs  rushed  from  the  hall  toward  the 
menaced  building,  pell-mell.  It  was  not  far  to  go.  The  excited 
crowd  scaled  the  fences,  and  the  more  active  among-  them  mounting 
the  shoulders  of  others  climbed  into  the  second-story  windows.  But 
this  movement  of  the  rioters  had  been  anticipated,  and  a  guard  of 
Colonel  Webb's  special  constables,  under  the  direction  of  the  late 
Simeon  Draper,  was  already  there  when  the  "Whigs  from  the  hall  and 
the  rioters  came.  The  latter  were  astonished  to  find  on  parade  a  large 
body  of  men  with  muskets,  prepared  to  keep  the  peace. 

The  mayor  had  applied  to  the  Brooklyn  Navy- Yard  for  a  company 
of  marines  the  day  before,  to  assist  his  police  in  suppressing  the  riotous 
spirit  in  the  city,  but  they  were  refused  by  the  commodore,  on  the 
ground  that  he  had  no  authority  to  send  them.  A  similar  request  sent 
to  the  military  commander  at  Governor's  Island  met  with  a  refusal  for 
the  same  reasons.  Then  he  directed  General  Sandford  to  order  out 
some  of  the  city  militia,  and  soon  infantry  and  cavalry  appeared. 

On  hearing  that  the  arsenal  was  in  the  possession  of  one  of  the  polit- 
ical parties,  the  mayor  ordered  the  Twenty-seventh  Regiment  of  the 
National  Guard,  Colonel  Linus  AY.  Stevens,  to  proceed  thither.  Mr. 
Draper  and  his  men  had  only  been  placed  there  to  defend  it  from  a 
mob  until  relief  should  come.  The  Whigs  readily  gave  it  up  to  the 
military  and  retired.  Three  hundred  members  were  on  duty  at  the 
arsenal  and  patrolled  the  streets  until  the  next  morning. 

Commissary-General  Arcularius,  who  had  charge  of  the  arsenal  at 
the  time,  made  a  most  ridiculous  report  of  the  matter.  Not  knowing 
the  name  of  Mr.  Draper,  who  was  active  in  keeping  back  the  mob  in 
front  of  the  arsenal  after  the  arrival  of  his  political  friends,  alluded  to 
him  repeatedly  in  his  report  as  the  "  man  with  a  claret-colored  coat 
on."  This  description  of  the  then  popular  young  politician  so  amused 
his  friends  and  the  wits  of  the  town  that  it  became  long  a  phrase  in 
political  circles  in  the  city. 

After  the  exciting  election  was  over,  the  ballot-box  of  the  Sixth 
Ward  (which  at  that  time  received  the  title  of  "  the  bloody  Sixth") 
was  taken  to  the  City  Hall  under  a  strong  guard,  followed  by  a  turbu- 
lent multitude,  and  locked  up  for  the  night.  But  the  excitement  did 
not  end  with  the  election.  It  was  intense  until  the  result  was  known, 
almost  thirty-six  hours  afterward.  All  the  next  day  business  was 
nearlv  as  much  neglected  as  during  the  election.    It  Avas  estimated 


320 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


that  at  one  time  there  were  over  ten  thousand  citizens  in  a  crowd  in 
"Wall  Street  awaiting  the  conclusion  of  the  canvass.  "When  it  was 
finally  announced,  and  it  was  ascertained  that  the  Democrats  had 
barely  missed  a  most  signal  defeat,  the  opposition  party  felt  jubilant. 
The  Democrats  had  elected  their  candidate  for  mayor  by  a  small 
majority  ;  the  "Whigs  had  carried  the  common  council.  This  event 
the  latter  celebrated  at  a  mass-meeting  held  in  Castle  Garden,  where 
Daniel  Webster,  who  had  been  sent  for  to  make  a  speech,  appeared, 
and  was  supported  by  several  of  the  finest  speakers  of  the  city  of  New 
York. 

The  election  riot  of  1834  was  the  first  of  four  riots  which  occurred 
in  New  York  during  this  decade — 1830-40. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


THE  Twenty-seventh  Regiment  National  Guard,  called  out  at  the 
time  of  the  election  riots  in  1834,  is  now  the  famous  Seventh 
Regiment  New  York  State  National  Guard  of  the  Citv  of  New  York. 
Its  services  on  that  occasion,  as  an  active  guardian  of  the  peace  of  the 
city,  were  the  second  they  had  rendered  in  that  capacity,  the  first 
having  been  given  to  preserve  the  peace  at  the  execution  of  James 
Reynolds,  November  19,  1825.  The  mayor  thanked  them  for  their 
promptness  and  efficiency,  and  from  that  time  until  now  that  regiment 
has  acted  and  been  relied  upon  as  a  sure  defender  of  public  order  in  the 
metropolis. 

The  Twenty-seventh  Regiment  was  not  an  original  organization,  but 
the  offspring  of  the  Eleventh  Regiment  of  Artillery,  created  in  1812. 
The  pedigree  of  the  Eleventh  Regiment  may  be  traced  back  to  the 
period  of  the  old  war  for  independence. 

In  1824  the  Eleventh  Regiment  consisted  of  two  battalions,  one 
artillery  proper,  and  the  other  infantry,  four  companies  each.  On 
the  16th  of  August  of  that  year  General  the  Marquis  de  Lafayette 
arrived  at  New  York,  the  guest  of  the  nation,  and  the  citizen  soldiery 
then  turned  out  in  full  force,  under  General  Jacob  Morton,  to  give  him 
a  hearty  welcome.  They  were  reviewed  at  the  Battery  by  the  Illustri- 
ous soldier.  While  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  distinguished  visitor, 
the  officers  of  the  infantry  battalion  of  the  Eleventh  Regiment  then  on 
duty  fell  into  conversation  on  a  subject  which  had  frequently  occupied 
their  thoughts,  namely,  the  independent  organization  of  their  battalion. 

The  choice  of  a  name  had  been  a  difficult  problem.  Some  one  of  the 
officers  having  made  allusion  to  Lafayette's  connection  with  the 
National  Guard  of  Paris,  Major  John  D.  Wilson  immediately  asked  : 

"Why  will  not  National  Guard  be  a  good  name  for  the  proposed 
corps  ?" 

The  idea  was  received  with  enthusiasm  by  every  officer  present,  and 
every  member  of  the  battalion  heartily  approved  it. 

A  few  evenings  afterward  (August  25,  1824)  these  officers  met  at  the 
Shakespeare  Tavern,  on  the  south-west  corner  of  Fulton  and  Nassau 


322 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


streets,*  and  adopted  a  resolution  to  form  an  independent  battalion, 
composed  of  the  four  companies  of  infantry  of  the  Eleventh  Regiment, 
to  be  thereafter  "  known  and  distinguished  by  the  name  of  the 
National  Guard."  The  captains  of  the  four  companies  were  Irad 
Hawlev,  John  Telfair,  William  B.  Curtis,  and  Howard  B.  Simmons. 

1  hiving  obtained  permission  of  the  proper  authorities  to  create  the 
proposed  organization,  the  important  question  arose,  What  shall  be  our 
uniform  3  Philetus  Holt,  a  private  in  the  Fourth  Company  who  was 
present,  was  dressed  in  a  neatly-fitting  single-breasted  gray  office-coat, 
that  attracted  the  attention  of  Acting  Brigade  Major  Prosper  M.  Wet- 
more.  He  suggested  Holt's  coat  as  a  suitable  model,  and  at  a  meeting 
at  the  Shakespeare,  not  long  afterward,  Major  J.  D.  Wilson  exhibited 
a  pattern  suit,  which  was  adopted  by  unanimous  consent. 

To  the  four  companies  were  presently  added  two  others,  raised  and 
commanded  respectively  by  Captains  Linus  W.  Stevens  and  Oliver  M. 
Lownds.  in  June  of  the  following  year  Governor  De  Witt  Clinton 
issued  an  order  instituting  the  battalion  of  the  National  Guard.  It 
was,  unfortunately,  consolidated  with  the  artillery  battalion.  Difficul- 
ties arose,  and  in  October,  1825,  a  separation  was  effected,  and  the 
battalion  of  six  companies  was  made  an  independent  corps.  Another 
company,  under  Captain  Van  Buren,  was  added  at  about  this  time. 

*  The  Shakespeare  Tavern,  where  the  new  battalion  of  National  Guards  was  organized, 
was  the  headquarters  of  the  Eleventh  and  of  the  Twenty-seventh  regiments  for  many 
years,  and  remained  so  until  the  building  was  demolished,  when  Fulton  Street  was 
widened,  in  1836.  It  was  not  a  tavern— a  place  for  the  entertainment  of  travellers — in 
the  American  sense  of  that  term,  but  was  a  place  of  resort  of  some  of  the  better  class  of 
city  residents.  It  was  a  sort  of  club-houso,  where  choice  wines  and  quiet,  excellent  sup- 
pers might  be  obtained.  It  was  originally  built  after  the  model  of  an  English  alehouse. 
It  was  a  low,  old-fashioned,  and  rather  massive  edifice,  two  stories  in  height,  with  dormer 
windows.  It  was  erected  by  John  Leake  before  the  Revolution.  On  the  second  story 
there  was  a  room  for  military  drills  and  public  meetings,  and  there  were  appointments 
for  social  or  political  gatherings.  It  was  a  great  resort  for  literary  men  sixty  years  ago. 
It  is  said  that  in  a  room  in  that  tavern  the  young  poet,  Robert  C.  Sands,  recited  to 
Gulian  C,  Verplanck  and  two  or  three  literary  friends  his  last  and  most  remarkable 
poem,  entitled  "  The  Dead  of  1832."  In  that  poem  his  theme  was  the  triumphs  of 
Death  and  Time  over  the  eminent  men  who  had  died  that  year,  and  closing  with  these 
words  : 

"  All  earth  is  now  their  sepulchre. 

The  Mind  their  monument  sublime— 
Young  in  eternal  fame  they  are — 
Sure  are  your  triumphs,  Death  and  Time.'1 

This  poem  was  published  in  the  Commercial  Advertiser  only  a  few  days  before  Sands's 
own  sudden  death,  in  December,  1832. 

The  Shakespeare  was  known  for  several  years  as  "  Stoneall's,"  James  C.  Stoneall  being 
its  proprietor. 


I 

FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840.  323 

Prosper  M.  Wetmore  was  elected  lieutenant-colonel,  and  Linus  W. 
Stevens  major. 

Another  company  would  raise  the  battalion  to  the  dignity  of  a 
regiment.  Measures  were  taken  to  form  one.  This  work  was 
accomplished  on  the  4-th  of  May,  1826,  when  the  eighth  company, 
commanded  by  Captain  Andrew  Warner  (now  the  recording  secretary 
of  the  New  York  Historical  Society)  was  admitted  into  the  corps. 
Two  days  afterward  Governor  Clinton  issued  an  order  constituting  the 
battalion  the  Twenty-seventh  Regiment  of  Artillery. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  officers  of  the  Twenty-seventh  at  the  Shake- 
speare Tavern  on  May  23,  1820,  Prosper  M.  Wetmore  was  chosen 
colonel,  Linus  W.  Stevens  lieutenant- colonel,  and  John  Telfair  major. 
The  National  Guard  paraded  as  a  regiment  for  the  first  time  on  May 
31st,  when  they  received  an  elegant  stand  of  colors  from  Mayor  Philip 
Hone.  Sergeant  Asher  Taylor,  a  beloved  veteran  of  the  National 
Guard,  gives  the  following  account,  in  his  curious  illustrated  volume 
entitled  "  Notes  on  the  Colors  of  the  National  Guard,  with  some  Inci- 
dental Passages  of  the  History  of  the  Regiment,"  printed  on  an 
"  amateur  press  for  private  circulation'"  in  18(53  : 

' '  When  the  corps  was  detached  as  a  separate  command,  the  subject 
of  providing  suitable  colors  for  it  engaged  the  early  attention  of  the 
board  of  officers,  and  Captain  John  Telfair,  Captain  James  T.  Flinn, 
Lieutenant  Charles  B.  Spicer,  Adjutant  Andrew  Warner,  and  Surgeon 
Edward  P.  Marcellin  were  appointed  a  committee  to  procure  a  standard 
which  should  be  the  banner  of  the  National  Guard.  The  committee 
spent  some  time  bowing  around  and  flirting  and  coquetting  among 
their  fair  friends,  in  the  hope  of  eliciting  an  offer  from  some  of  them 
to  embroider  and  present  a  standard  ;  and  Young  Moustache  will  be 
amused  to  learn  that  all  their  efforts  were  in  vain,  as  they  reported 
(March  29,  1820)  that  '  the  expectations  hitherto  entertained  on  that  sub- 
ject hud  not  ~been  realized  '* — a  humiliating  admission  that  would  well- 
nigh  '  burst  the  kids  '  of  half  the  gallant  and  irresistible  fellows  of  the 
regiment  of  the  present  day.  Subscription  papers  for  the  requisite 
funds  were  circulated  through  the  ranks  of  the  corps,  and  promptly 
filled  up." 

The  colors  consisted  of  the  regimental  standard  of  red  silk,  bearing 
the  coat-of-arms  of  the  regiment,  described  below,  and  a  State  standard 
of  blue  silk.  The  design  of  the  arms  on  the  regimental  standard  was 
traced  out  on  the  silk  by  Sergeant  Taylor,  and  was  very  beautifully 
embroidered  in  natural  colors,  under  his  supervision,  by  Mrs.  Windsor. 

A  coat-of-arms  and  a  motto  having  primarily  been  designed  by 


32i 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Sergeant  Taylor,  Major  Wetmoi'e  employed  Dr.  Alexander  Anderson, 
the  pioneer  wood-engraver,  to  reproduce  it  on  wood,  and  presented  it  to 
the  corps.  The  arms  consisted  of  an  escutcheon  quartered.  The  first 
grand  quarter  was  the  shield  of  the  United  States,  the  second  the 
shield  of  the  State  of  New  York,  the  third  the  shield  of  the  city  of 
New  York,  and  the  fourth  the  initials  of  the  New  York  State  Artil- 
lery. On  an  in-escutcheon  of  gold  were  the  initials  of  the  National 
Guard  in  cipher.  The  crest  was  a  spread-eagle,  and  the  motto  was 
Pro  Patria  et  Gloria  and  the  Avords  "  National  Guard." 

Late  in  November,  1S30,  the  regiment  bore  a  conspicuous  part 
among  the  military  of  the  city  of  New  York  in  a  grand  parade  of  citi- 
zens and  soldiers  as  an  expression  of  sympathy  with  those  who  had 
effected  a  revolution  in  France,  driven  one  Icing  from  the  throne  and 
set  another,  more  acceptable,  upon  it.  On  February  7,  1832,  at  a 
meeting  of  the  board  of  officers  of  the  regiment,  Major  Cathn  sug- 
gested the  propriety  of  presenting  a  gold  medal  to  the  Marquis  de 
Lafayette. 

On  the  22d  of  that  month  the  centennial  anniversary  of  the  birth  of 
Washington  was  celebrated  by  the  regiment.  The  late  G.  W.  P. 
Custis,  the  adopted  son  of  Washington,  who  possessed  the  patriot's 
war-tent,  lent  it  to  the  regiment  for  that  occasion,  and  under  it  the 
officers  were  assembled,  while  thousands  of  spectators  viewed  the  inter- 
esting relic.  In  that  tent  Lieutenant-Colonel  Morgan  L.  Smith  offered 
the  following  resolution  : 

"  Resolved,  Thnt  on  this  auspicious  day,  while  assembled  beneath  the  ample  folds  of 
the  tent  that  sheltered  Washington  and  Lafayette  during  the  Revolution,  the  officers  of 
this  regiment  desire  to  express  their  humble  thanks  to  Almighty  God  for  the  blessings 
which  have  grown  out  of  the  Revolution,  and  that  we  deem  this  a  most  appropriate 
occasion  to  honor  one  of  His  instruments  by  causing  a  medal  of  gold  to  be  struck  and 
presented  to  the  surviving  hero,  General  Lafayette,  commemorative  of  our  abiding  friend- 
ship for  him,  and  also  that  existing  between  France  and  America." 

This  resolution  was  adopted,  and  a  committee  of  field  officers,  con- 
sisting of  Colonel  Stevens,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Smith,  and  Major  Cat- 
lin,  was  appointed  to  accomplish  the  object.  In  July  following  the 
medal  was  completed  and  exhibited  to  the  members  of  the  regiment  at 
Camp  Putnam,  near  New  Haven.  It  was  sent  to  James  Fenimore 
Cooper,  the  novelist,  to  present  to  Lafayette.  Mr.  Cooper  was  absent 
from  Paris  then  and  for  several  months  afterward.  On  his  return,  in 
November,  he  gave  a  dinner  to  Lafayette,  at  which  were  General 
Wool,  several  other  Americans  of  distinction,  and  representatives  of 
European  nations,  as  guests.    On  that  occasion  the  medal  was  pre- 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


325 


sented,  received  with  gratitude,  and  acknowledged  in  pleasing  terms 
by  the  recipient. 

Tins  superb  medal  was  made  of  solid  gold  from  the  mines  of  North 
Carolina  ;  those  of  California  were  then  unsuspected.  It  weighed  one 
hundred  and  fifty-seven  pennyweights.  In  the  centre  of  a  rich  frame 
work  were  medallions  bearing  the  portraits  of  "Washington  and 
Lafayette  inclosed  in  a  wreath  of  olive  and  laurel  leaves.  Above  the 
medallions  was  a  Roman  lictor's  axe  inclosed  in  fasces,  and  below 
these  an  escutcheon  containing  the  coat-of-arms  of  the  National  Guard. 
The  whole  was  surmounted  by  a  spread-eagle  standing  upon  a  globe, 
on  which  were  the  words  "  America  and  France."  On  each  side  were 
the  flags  of  America  and  France  combined.  On  a  scroll  at  the  base  of 
the  medal  were  the  words  "Pro  Patria  et  Gloria.''''  This  medal  was 
furnished  by  Marquand  &  Brother,  then  the  leading  jewellers  of  New 
York,  who  employed  Bowler  &  Ward,  of  Poughkeepsie,  to  execute  the 
work.  The  die  was  cut  by  Ward.  The  writer  watched  the  progress 
of  the  work  with  great  interest.  An  engraving  of  the  medal,  the 
natural  size,  appeared  in  the  New  York  Mirror,  in  1832,  and  in  the 
American  Historical  Record  in  1874. 

Under  the  title  of  Twenty-seventh  Regiment  National  Guard  the 
corps  performed  its  duty  faithfully  in  military  drills  and  as  defenders 
of  public  order  in  the  city  of  New  York  on  several  occasions,  until 
1847,  when  the  governor  of  the  State  ordered  that  the  regiment,  then 
under  the  command  of  Colonel  Bremmer,  "  be  thereafter  called  and 
known  as  the  Seventh  Regiment  National  Guard."  Such  is  the 
genesis  and  early  history  of  this  yet  famous  regiment.  We  shall  meet 
it  on  important  fields  of  duty  hereafter. 

In  the  summer  of  1834  the  peace  of  the  city  of  New  York  was  fear- 
fully disturbed  by  riotous  proceedings  directed  against  the  advocates 
of  the  freedom  of  the  slaves  in  our  country.  From  the  foundation  of 
our  national  government  the  public  mind  had  been  much  agitated 
from  time  to  time  by  discussions  concerning  the  slavery  of  negroes  in 
our  land.  Indeed  before  the  Revolution  their  emancipation  was 
strongly  urged  by  benevolent  and  enlightened  men,  not  only  from 
humane  considerations,  but  as  a  wise  measure  of  political  economy. 

In  the  midst  of  the  political  excitement  in  Massachusetts  in  17(56, 
growing  out  of  the  Stamp  Act  quarrel,  this  topic  was  the  cause  of  a 
warm  controversy,  in  which  Nathaniel  Appleton  and  James  Swan, 
merchants  of  Boston,  distinguished  themselves  as  writers  on  the  side  of 
human  freedom.  This  controversy  was  renewed  from  time  to  time 
until  1773,  when  it  became  so  warm  that  it  was  the  subject  of  disputa- 


320 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


tions  at  Harvard  College.  The  Colonial  Assembly  made  efforts  to 
restrict  the  further  importation  of  negroes  into  the  province,  and  a  test 
suit  was  carried  into  the  Supreme  Court,  on  the  question  whether  any 
person  could  be  held  as  a  slave  in  Massachusetts.  It  took  the  form  of 
a  suit  by  a  negro  to  recover  wages  from  his  alleged  master.  The  court 
decided  in  favor  of  the  slave. 

During  the  old  war  for  independence  the  consciences  of  many  prom- 
inent slaveholders  made  them  question  the  righteousness  of  holding 
their  fellow -men  in  bondage.  Henry  Laurens  expressed  his  conviction 
that  men  lighting  for  their  own  freedom  could  hardly  expect  the  favor 
of  God  in  their  undertaking  while  they  held  other  human  beings  in 
slavery.  Societies  were  formed  to  create  public  opinion  in  favor  of  the 
emancipation  of  the  blacks.  One  established  in  Philadelphia  had  Dr. 
Franklin  for  its  president  and  Dr.  Rush  for  its  secretary. 

After  the  Avar  these  humane  efforts  were  continued.  In  1785  the 
Manumission  Society  of  New  York  was  established,  of  which  John  Jay 
was  president.  The  society  of  Friends  or  Quakers  always  formed  a 
permanent  anti-slavery  society,  and  were  ever  active1.  They  presented 
the  first  petition  to  the  National  Congress  for  the  abolition  of  slavery. 
In  1815  an  abolition  society  was  formed  in  Ohio.  Daring  the  debate 
in  Congress  and  out  of  it,  on  the  admission  of  Missouri  into  the  Union 
as  a  State  (1820-21),  the  country  was  fearfully  agitated  by  the  discus- 
sion of  the  slavery  question.  The  subject  was  vehemently  revived  in 
1S31  by  the  utterances  of  the  Liberator,  an  anti-slavery  newspaper 
published  in  Boston  by  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  which  denounced 
slavery  as  "  a  sin  against  God  and  a  crime  against  humanity."  On 
the  basis  of  such  sentiments  an  anti-slavery  society  Avas  formed  in 
Boston  in  1832,  and  the  next  year  the  American  Anti-Slavery  Society 
was  organized  in  Philadelphia,  which  existed  until  the  institution  of 
slavery  was  destroyed  by  the  fires  of  the  great  Civil  War  in  1801-05. 

Among  the  opponents  of  slavery  in  this  decade  the  Friends  or 
Quakers  were  the  most  earnest,  the  most  prudent,  and  the  most  prac- 
tical. They  warred  against  the  inxtitution,  not  against  its  supporters. 
They  condemned  the  system  of  slavery  as  unjust  and  unrighteous,  but 
did  not  denounce  slaveholders.  They  did  not  stand  behind  their  safe 
position  in  a  Northern  State  and  abuse  the  Southern  people,  but  they 
went  among  the  Southern  people  themselves  and  tried  to  persuade 
them  to  renounce  their  unrighteous  labor  system. 

One  of  the  boldest  and  truest  of  these  preachers  of  righteousness! 
was  Elias  Hicks,  of  Long  Island.  In  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas  he 
preached  more  vigorously  against  slavery  than  in  New  York  and 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


327 


Pennsylvania.  As  a  rule  lie  was  listened  to  with  interest  and  kindly 
treated.  Sometimes,  however,  he  aroused  indignation,  but  always  mel 
it  boldly.  On  one  occasion  a  hearer  left  the  meeting  in  flaming-  anger, 
and  swore  he  would  "shoot  that  fellow"  if  he  came  near  his  planta- 
tion. 1  licks  heard  of  the  threat,  and  after  meeting  put  on  his  hat  and 
went  straight  to  the  planter's  house.  The  man  was  at  dinner.  In  a 
little  while  he  appeared,  when  Hicks,  in  a  calm  and  dignified  manner, 
said  : 

"  I  understand  thou  hast  threatened  to  blow  out  the  brains  of  Elias 
Hicks  if  he  comes  upon  thy  plantation.    I  am  Elias  Hicks." 

The  Virginian  said  he  thought  he  would  be  justified  in  doing  such  a 
deed  when  a  man  came  to  preach  rebellion  to  his  slaves. 

"  I  came  to  preach  the  Gospel,"  said  the  Quaker,  "  which  inculcates 
forgiveness  of  injuries  upon  slaves  as  veil  as  upon  other  men.  But  tell 
me,  if  thou  canst,  how  this  Gospel  can  be  truly  preached,  without 
showing  the  slaves  that  they  are  injured,  and  thus  making  a  man  of 
thy  sentiments  feel  as  if  they  were  encouraged  in  rebellion." 

A  long  and  friendly  argument  ensued.  At  parting  the  slaveholder 
shook  hands  with  the  preacher,  and  invited  him  to  come  again.1  Hicks 
repeated  the  visit,  and  six  months  afterward  this  Virginian  emanci- 
pated his  slaves.* 

So  early  as  the  autumn  of  1833  there  were  abundant  symptoms  of  a 
riotous  spirit  among  the  ignorant  and  dangerous  classes  in  the  city  of 
"New  York,  directed  against  the  "  abolitionists,"  as  the  anti-slavery 
people  were  now  called.  The  vigorous  and  aggressive  onslaughts  upon 
the  institution  of  slavery  which  the  Anti-Slavery  Society  was  then 
making  had  created  a  feeling  of  intense  opposition  among  all  classes, 
especially  business  men  in  the  city  of  New  York  connected  with  the 
Southern  trade,  and  the  champions  of  a  holy  cause  soon  found  they 
were  breasting  an  almost  irresistible  current.  The  lofty  motives  which 
animated  the  philanthropists  were  not  comprehended  or  given  sufficient 
weight  by  the  general  public,  and  the  anti-slavery  people  were  re- 
garded as  pragmatical  fanatics.  Nor  were  the  methods  of  the  aboli- 
tionists always  judicious  or  wise. 

The  avowed  object  of  the  anti -slavery  societies  had  created  alarm 
and  indignation  and  chronic  irritation  among  the  people  of  the  slave- 
labor  States,  and  very  soon  the  muttering  thunder  of  threats  of 
disunion  were  heard.  This  ominous  sound  disturbed  the  nerves  of 
commerce  at  the  North.    New  York  City  especially  was  intimately 

•  "  Life  of  Isaac  T.  Hopper,''  by  Lydia  Maria  Child. 


328 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


connected  in  interest  with  all  the  business  centres  in  the  South,  and 
when  her  merchants  and  other  business  men  observed  their  Southern 
customers  becoming1  suspicious  and  less  cordial,  and  disposed  more  and 
more  to  halt  at  Baltimore,  they  naturally  regarded  the  abolitionists  as 
the  enemies  of  the  Union — at  least  enemies  of  a  unity  of  feeling  be- 
tween the  people  of  the  two  sections  of  the  Republic. 

The  opposition  to  the  abolitionists  everywhere  was  intensified  by  the 
course  pursued  by  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  who  was  in  England  in 
1S33.  He  joined  the  anti-slavery  men  of  that  country  in  fierce  denun- 
ciations of  his  own  land  before  the  world,  as  inconsistent  in  its  policy, 
false  in  its  high  pretensions  as  the  guardian  of  free  institutions,  and 
criminal  in  a  high  degree.  The  patriotism  of  our  people  was  shocked, 
and  the  old  prejudices  against  the  "  Britishers''  was  aroused.  As 
Garrison  was  regarded  as  the  embodiment  of  the  principles  and  designs 
of  the  Anti-Slavery  Society,  there  was  a  general  feeling  that  the  aboli- 
tionists must  be  put  down.  When,  therefore,  in  the  fall  of  1S33 
Garrison  returned,  and  a  notice  appeared  of  a  meeting  of  the  anti- 
slavery  champions  in  the  city  of  New  York  to  be  held  in  Clinton  Hall, 
some  of  the  most  respectable  men  in  the  city  resolved  to  attend  the 
meeting,  and  by  the  weight  of  numbers  and  character  crush  what  they 
deemed  the  bead  of  the  dangerous  serpent  of  disunion.  A  more  excit- 
able, less  scrupulous,  and  more  disreputable  class  of  citizens  determined 
to  accomplish  that  object  in  another  way.  Accordingly  on  the  2d  of 
October  they  posted  a  placard,  in  large  letters,  all  over  the  city,  con- 
taining these  words  : 

"  NOTICE. 
"  To  all  Persons  from  the  South  J 
"  All  persons  interested  in  the  subject  of  the  meeting  called  by 
J.  Leavitt,  W.  Goodell, 

V>\  Green,  J.  Rankin, 

Lewis  Tappan, 

at  Clinton  Hall  tins  evening  at  7  o'clock,  are  requested  to'  at- 
tend at  the  same  hour  and  place. 

"Many  Southerners. 

"Xew  York,  October  2d,  1833. 

"  N.B.  All  citizens  who  may  feel  disposed  to  manifest  the 
true  feeling  of  the  State  on  this  subject  are  requested  to  at- 
tend." 

This  deceptive  notice— this  false  assignment  of  the  authorship  of  it — 
was  calculated  to  enhst  the  sympathies  of  a  large  class  of  citizens,  and 
the  wicked  hint  given  in  the  nota  bene  was  evidently  intended  to  mar- 
shal a  host  of  the  dangerous  class  in  the  city. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


320 


Soon  after  six  o'clock  a  crowd  began  to  gather  in  front  of  ( Jlinton 
Hall.  It  was  soon  ascertained  that  there  was  a  notice  on  the  door  that 
no  meeting  would  be  held.  Many  citizens  immediately  went  home, 
but  still  the  crowd  swelled  until  it  numbered  thousands  and  filled  the 
air  with  tumultuous  shouts  and  execrations.  Hundreds  rushed  into  the 
hall  until  the  audience-room  was  densely  packed.  A  meeting  was 
organized,  and  at  a  quarter  past  seven  o'clock  it  adjourned  to  Tam- 
many Hall,  where  it  was  reorganized.  A  man  was  about  to  address 
the  assembled  people  when  a  person  suddenly  entered  the  room,  and 
<roiim-  to  the  chairman  informed  him  that  the  abolition  meeting-  an- 
nounced  to  be  held  at  Clinton  Hall  was  at  that  moment  in  progress  at 
the  Chatham  Street  Chapel. 

"  To  the  chapel  !  To  the  chapel  !  Let  us  go  and  disperse  them  !" 
shouted  several  voices,  and  the  crowd  surged  with  excitement.  The 
chairman,  who  was  an  order-loving  citizen,  told  them  they  had  met  to 
pass  certain  resolutions,  and  when  that  business  was  ended  they  might 
act  as  they  pleased.  The  resolutions  condemnatory  of  the  abolitionists 
and  containing  assurances  of  support  to  the  Constitution  and  laws  were 
passed,  when  a  large  proportion  of  the  meeting  rushed  for  the  Chatham 
Street  Chapel.  The  few  persons  gathered  there,  apprised  of  ^en- 
danger, had  left,  and  the  crowd  found  the  room  empty,  with  the  doors 
open  and  the  lights  all  burning. 

An  expected  tragedy  was  now  changed  into  a  farce.  The  passions 
of  the  crowd  had  subsided,  and  they  were  in  good  humor.  They  took 
possession  of  the  deserted  room  and  appointed  a  jolly  colored  man  who 
had  taken  part  with  them  chairman  of  the  meeting.  He  was  addressed 
by  the  name  of  one  of  the  leading  abolitionists.  After  passing  some 
absurd  resolutions  and  receiving  the  solemn  thanks  of  the  chairman  for 
the  honor  they  had  conferred  upon  him,  the  crowd  dispersed  with 
laughter,  songs,  and  hilarious  shouts  as  they  passed  into  the  street  and 
went  home.  The  champions  of  freedom  who  had  assembled  at  the 
chapel  had  stolen  a  march  on  the  crowd  at  Clinton  and  Tammany 
halls.  They  had  quietly  formed  the  "New  York  City  Anti-Slavery 
Society. " 

In  the  anti-slavery  movements  up  to  this  period  (and  afterward  to 
the  period  of  his  death)  one  of  the  most  zealous,  active,  and  judicious 
of  the  friends  of  the  slave  was  the  Hon.  William  Jay.  The  slaves  in 
the  State  of  New  York  were  emancipated  by  law  on  the  4th  of  July, 
1827.  In  September  following,  in  his  charge  to  the  grand  jury  of 
Westchester  County,  Judge  Jay  said,  in  allusion  to  the  great  act  : 

"  I  cannot  forbear  to  congratulate  you  on  that  event,  so  auspicmu.; 


330 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


to  the  character  and  happiness  of  the  community.  .  .  .  Within  a 
few  months  more  than  ten  thousand  of  our  fellow-citizens  have  been 
restored  to  those  rights  which  our  fathers  in  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence pronounced  to  he  inalienable,  and  to  have  been  granted  to  all 
men  by  their  Creator.  As  yet  we  have  no  reason  to  suppose  that 
crimes  have  multiplied  or  the  public  peace  disturbed  by  the  emancipa- 
tion of  our  slaves  ;  nor  can  we  fear  that  Tie  who  commanded  us  to  do 
justice  and  love  mercy  will  permit  us  to  suffer  by  obeying  His  injunc- 
tions/' 

The  city  of  New  York  became  the  headquarters  of  the  American 
Anti-Slavery  Society,  which  was  formed  at  Philadelphia  December  30, 
1833.  At  the  suggestion  of  Judge  Jay,  they  explicitly  defined  their 
political  principles  in  the  constitution  of  the  society  by  declaring  : 
1.  That  each  State  in  which  slavery  exists  has,  by  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  the  exclusive  right  to  legislate  in  regard  to  abolition 
in  that  State  ;  2.  That  they  would  endeavor,  in  a  constitutional  way, 
to  influence  Congress  to  put  an  end  to  the  domestic  slave  trade  arid  to 
abolish  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  likewise  to  prevent  the 
extension  of  slavery  to  any  State  that  might  thereafter  be  admitted  to 
the  Union  ;  3.  That  the  society  and  its  auxiliaries  will  never,  in  any 
way,  countenance  the  oppressed  in  vindicating  their  rights  by  resorting 
to  physical  force. 

These  declarations  formed  an  essential  part  of  the  work  of  Judge 
Jay  *  in  the  fashioning  of  the  constitution  of  the  society,  for  it  was  at 

*  William  Jay,  LL.D.,  second  son  of  Chief  Justice  Jay,  was  born  at  Bedford,  West- 
chester County,  X.  Y.,  June  10,  1798.  He  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1808,  and  entered 
upon  the  duties  of  the  legal  profession.  At  the  age  of  twenty-three  he  married  Miss 
Augusta  McVickar,  of  New  York  City.  During  his  mature  life  he  was  continually  engaged 
in  philanthropic  efforts  for  the  elevation,  well-being,  and  happiness  of  mankind, 
earnestly  advocating  temperance,  peace,  and  freedom  from  slavery  of  every  kind.  So 
early  as  181"i  he  founded  a  temperance  society. 

Mr.  Jay  was  one  of  the  founders  and  able  defenders  of  the  American  Bible  Society. 
In  1818  Governor  Tompkins  appointed  him  judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of 
Westchester  County.  He  continued  on  the  bench  until  1842.  when  he  was  relieved  of 
the  office  by  Governor  Bonck,  at  the  demand  of  the  Southern  wing  of  the  Democratic 
party,  on  account  of  his  anti-slavery  opinions. 

In  1820  a  free  colored  man  named  Horton.  living  in  Westchester  County,  went  to 
Washington,  where  he  was  arrested  and  imprisoned  as  a  fugitive  slave.  The  sheriff 
advertised  in  the  National  Intelligencer  that  unless  his  owner  called  for  him  he  would  be 
sold  to  "  pay  jail  fees  and  other  expenses."  A  copy  of  the  paper  containing  this  adver- 
tisement accidentally  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  resident  of  Westchester,  who  laid  the  mat- 
ter before  Judge  Jay.  The  latter  at  once  asked  Governor  De  Witt  Clinton  to  demand 
from  the  authorities  at  Washington  the  instant  release  of  the  victim  as  a  "  free  citizen  of 
the  State  of  New  York."    It  was  done,  and  Horton  was  released.    This  pronrpt  action 


FIRST  DECADE,  1S30-1840. 


331 


once  a  declaration  of  its  objects  and  an  explanation  of  its  designs. 
They  were  so  judicious  and  sound  in  principle  that  auxiliary  societies 
rapidly  increased.  So  early  as  1831),  sixteen  hundred  and  fifty  auxil- 
iary societies  had  adopted  the  political  principles  of  this  constitution, 
which  in  18.").")  were  made  the  basis  of  the  Republican  party. 

The  winter  of  1833-34  passed  without  any  occasion  for  public  dis- 
turbance. In  the  spring-  of  1834  occurred  the  fearful  election  riot, 
already  described,  which  aroused  the  passions  of  the  lower  orders  of 
society.  This  riot  was  followed  by  seizures  and  carrying-  away  to  the 
South  of  several  colored  people  in  the  city  on  the  pretence  that  they 
were  fugitive  slaves. 

These  outrages  excited  the  indignation  and  stimulated  the  zeal  of  the 
members  of  the  Anti-Slavery  Society.  Tiny  became  more  vigilant, 
active,  and  determined  than  ever,  and  there  were  accessions  of  good 
and  brave  men  to  their  ranks.  Uut  the  tide  of  opposition  to  their 
cause  rose  rapidly  as  their  zeal  bore  fruit.    Some  of  the  newspapers  of 

on  the  part  of  Judge  Jay  and  its  results  initiated  movements  from  time  to  time  for  the 
repeal  of  the  laws  authorizing  such  arrests  and  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District 
of  Columbia. 

When,  in  1835,  President  Jackson  in  his  annual  message  to  Congress  called  the  atten- 
tion of  that  body  to  the  doings  of  the  anti-slavery  societies  as  "  repugnant  to  the  princi- 
ples of  our  national  compact  and  to  the  dictates  of  humanity  and  religion,"  and  sug- 
gested to  Congress  the  passage  of  a  law  to  prohibit  "  the  circulation  in  the  Southern 
States  through  the  mails  of  incendiary  publications  intended  to  instigate  the  slaves  to 
insurrection" — denouncing  the  sending  of  these  publications  as  "  unconstitutional  and 
vricked  attempts"  to  do  mischief— the  executive  committee  of  the  American  Anti-Slavery 
Society  at  New  York,  to  whose  members  and  auxiliaries  the  President's  language  was 
intended  to  apply,  promptly  met  this  attack  by  an  elaborate,  dignified,  and  powerful 
protest  against  the  accusation.    It  was  written  by  Judge  Jay. 

That  protest  suggested  to  the  President  the  propriety  of  ascertaining  the  real  designs 
of  the  abolitionists  before  his  misapprehension  should  lead  him  to  sanction  any  more 
trifling  with  the  liberties  of  the  press  (which  postmasters  had  already  done  by  refusing 
to  send  anti-slavery  publications  through  the  mails).  He  was  reminded  that  there  were 
then  (1835)  350  anti-slavery  societies,  ■with  thousands  of  members  ,  and  the  executive 
committee  invited  Congress  to  appoint  a  committee  of  investigation  to  visit  their  office 
at  New  York,  pledging  themselves  to  put  in  possession  of  such  committee  their  publica- 
tions and  correspondence,  and  to  answer,  under  oath,  all  interrogations. 

"  To  repel  your  charges  and  to  disabuse  the  public,"  said  the  protest,  "  was  a  duty  we 
owed  to  ourselves,  our  children,  and  above  all  to  the  great  and  holy  cause  in  which  we 
are  engaged.  That  cause  is,  we  believe,  approved  by  our  Maker  ;  and  while  we  retain 
this  belief  it  is  our  intention,  trusting  to  his  direction  and  protection,  to  persevere  in 
our  endeavors  to  impress  upon  the  minds  and  hearts  of  our  countrymen  the  sinfulness  of 
claiming  property  in  human  beings,  and  the  duty  and  wisdom  of  immediately  relinquish- 
ing it.  When  convinced  that  our  endeavors  are  wrong,  we  shall  abandon  them,  but  such 
convictions  roust  be  produced  by  other  arguments  than  vituperation,  popular  violence, 
or  penal  enactments." 


332 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


the  city  pandered  to  the  evil  passions  of  the  lower  and  the  dangerous 
classes.  They  even  suggested  a  course  of  open  hostility  to  the  aboli- 
tionists, and  acts  of  violence,  with  a  view  to  crush  the  "  pestilent  fac- 
tion." This  reprehensible  cultivation  of  a  mob  spirit  soon  produced 
bitter  fruit. 

On  the  evening  of  July  9th  quite  a  large  assembly  of  colored  persons 
of  both  sexes  occupied  the  Chatham  Street  Chapel  for  the  purpose  of 
listening  to  a  sermon  by  a  negro  preacher.  The  New  York  Sacred 
Music  Societv  had  leased  the  buildin«-  for  use  on  certain  evenings  each 
week.  They  claimed  that  the  evening  of  the  (Jth  was  one  of  them. 
At  that  time  Police- Justice  Lowndes  was  president  of  the  society,  and 
Dr.  Rockwell  was  vice-president.  They  repaired  to  the  chapel  during 
the  evening  with  some  of  the  members  of  the  society,  and  insisted  that 
the  colored  people  should  immediately  leave  the  building.  The  latter, 
having  hired  and  paid  for  it.  refused  to  leave.  High  words  ensued, 
which  were  speedily  exchanged  for  blows.  In  the  fracas  loaded  canes 
were  freely  used,  lamps  and  chairs  were  broken,  and  two  or  three  per- 

The  previous  year  (1834)  Judge  Jay  bad  completed  and  published  the  life  and  corre- 
spondence of  bis  father,  in  two  volumes,  also  "  An  Inquiry  into  the  Character  of  the 
American  Colonization  and  Anti-Slavery  Societies."  The  next  year,  when  the  Legisla- 
ture of  the  State  of  New  York  had  under  consideration  a  law  restricting  the  freedom  of 
speech,  be  said  to  the  grand  jury  of  Westchester  County  :  "  Any  law  that  may  be  passed 
to  abridge  in  the  slightest  degree  the  freedom  of  speech  or  of  the  press,  or  to  shield  any 
one  subject  for  discussion,  will  be  utterly  null  and  void,  and  it  will  be  the  duty  of  every 
good  citizen  to  resist,  with  energy  and  decision,  so  palpable  a  violation  of  the  Constitu- 
tion." 

In  1833  the  American  Anti-Slavery  Society  issued  an  official  manifesto  of  their  princi- 
ples, to  remove  false  impressions  as  to  their  views  and  methods,  addressed  '  To  the 
Public.''  It  was  written  by  Judge  Jay,  and  signed  by  Arthur  Tappan,  as  president,  and 
John  Rankin,  William  Jay,  Elizur  Wright,  Abraham  L.  Cox,  Lewis  Tappan,  S.  S.  Cornish. 
S.  S.  Jocelyn,  and  Theodore  S.  Dwight.  It  denounced  the  unconstitutional  usurpation 
of  the  government  to  protect  slavery,  and  to  prevent  free  discussion  and  the  freedom  of 
the  mails,  and  closed  with  these  words  of  warning  :  "  Surely  we  need  not  remind  you 
that  if  you  submit  to  such  an  encroachment  on  your  liberties  the  days  of  our  Republic 
are  numbered,  and  that  although  abolitionists  may  be  the  first,  they  will  not  be  the  last 
victims  offered  at  the  shrine  of  arbitrary  power."  This  manifesto  attracted  great  atten- 
tion at  home  and  abroad,  being  widely  translated  and  commented  upon  in  Europe. 

After  1835  Judge  Jay  published  many  papers  on  the  subjects  largely  filling  his  mind 
and  heart— the  condition  of  the  slaves,  the  relations  of  the  National  Government  to 
slavery,  the  violation  by  Congress  of  the  right  of  petition,  an  address  to  the  non-slavfe- 
holders  in  the  slave-labor  States,  etc. 

Soon  after  leaving  the  bench  Judge  Jay  visited  Europe  and  extended  his  tour  to  Egypt, 
where,  with  Sir  Gardiner  Wilkinson,  he  investigated  the  subject  of  slavery  in  Egypt. 
He  was  for  many  years  president  of  the  American  Peace  Society.  In  1848  he  was  visited 
by  an  earnest  champion  of  peace,  Joseph  Sturge,  an  English  Friend  or  Quaker,  and 
showed  his  guest  some  pages  of  a  work  which  was  printed  soon  afterward,  entitled  "  War 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


sons  were  quite  seriously  injured.  A  large  crowd  gathered  around  the 
door  and  a  serious  riot  was  threatened,  hut  the  police  in  strong  num- 
bers soon  appeared  and  drove  the  whole  crowd,  white  and  hlack,  from 
the  building.  But  the  fracas  continued  for  some  time  in  the  street. 
Lewis  Tappan,  being  recognized  as  one  of  the  listeners  to  the  colored 
preacher,  was  followed  to  his  house  in  Rose  Street  by  a  portion  of  the 
crowd,  who  greeted  him  with  yells  and  execrations,  and  pelted  his 
house  with  stones  after  he  entered  it. 

A  crowd  gathered  in  front  of  the  chapel  the  next  evening  (July  10). 
They  found  it  closed  and  its  portals  locked.  They  were  hurst  open, 
the  crowd  rushed  in,  and  an  anti-abolition  meeting  was  organized, 
with  W.  W.  "Wilder  in  the  chair.  In  a  speech  he  denounced  the  aboli- 
tion movement  as  dangerous,  and  proposed  to  adjourn  until  the  next 
meeting  of  the  Anti-Slavery  Society.  It  was  agreed  to,  but  the  more 
excitable  and  evil-disposed  portion  of  the  crowd  were  not  satisfied.  A 
voice  cried  out  : 

"  To  the  Bowery  Theatre  !" 

and  Peace  :  the  Evils  of  the  First,  with  a  Plan  for  Preserving  the  Last."  It  advocated 
international  treaties  stipulating  to  refer  future  international  differences  to  arbitration, 
as  was  done  in  1871-  7"2  in  the  Alabama  cases.  Mr.  Sturge  published  it  in  England,  and  it 
was  received  with  great  favor.  This  plan,  after  being  indorsed  by  peace  conventions 
at  Brussels,  Paris,  and  London,  led  to  the  adoption  of  the  famous  protocol  by  the  con- 
gress at  Paris,  after  the  Crimean  war  in  1854,  by  seven  European  states,  including  Prus 
sia,  which  declared  their  wish  to  resort  to  .arbitration  before  appealing  to  arms.  ■  It  is 
an  act  important  to  civilization, "  said  Lord  Malmesbury  ;  and  "  worthy  of  immortal  re- 
nown," said  Lord  Derby. 

Judge  Jay's  publications  on  all  subjects  were  forty-three  in  number.  Many  of  them 
were  widely  circulated  and  exercised  much  influence  on  public  opinion.  He  left  in 
manuscript  an  elaborate  commentary  on  the  Bible.  By  his  will  he  left  a  bequest  of  $1000 
for  "  promoting  the  safety  and  comfort  of  fugitive  slaves."  He  did  not  live  to  see  the 
great  desire  of  his  heart  realized  in  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves,  which  occurred  within 
live  years  after  his  death.  He  died  in  the  city  of  New  York,  with  the  interests  of  which 
he  was  long  identified,  on  October  14,  1858. 

On  the  death  of  Judge  Jay  appropriate  proceedings  were  held  by  the  New  York  His- 
torical Society,  the  American  Peace  Society,  the  bar  of  Westchester  County,  and  other 
bodies.  On  the  invitation  of  the  colored  citizens  of  New  York  a  eulogy  on  the  deceased 
was  delivered  by  Frederick  Douglass,  and  Mr.  Greeley  said  in  the  Tribune  :  M  As  to  Chief- 
Justice  Jay,  the  father,  may  be  attributed  more  than  to  any  other  one  man  the  abolition 
of  negro  bondage  in  this  State,  so  to  Judge  William  Jay,  the  son,  the  future  will  give  the 
credit  of  having  been  one  of  the  earliest  advocates  of  the  anti-slavery  movement  which  at 
this  moment  [October,  1858]  influences  so  radically  the  politics  and  the  philanthropy  of 
this  country,  and  having  guided  by  his  writings  in  a  large  measure  the  direction  which 
a  cause  so  important  and  so  conservative  of  the  best  and  most  precious  rights  of  the 
people  should  take." 

The  portrait  from  which  our  engraving  was  made  is  from  a  painting  by  Wenzler  for 
the  court-house  at  White  Plains. 


334 


HISTORY"  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


The  stage  manager  of  that  theatre  was  an  Englishman  who  had 
made  himself  ohnoxious  by  speaking  disparagingly  of  Americans.  That 
evening  had  been  appointed  for  his  benefit.  During  the  day  placards 
had  been  posted  over  the  city,  calling  attention  to  the  manager's  hos- 
tility to  the  Americans.  By  a  strange  syllogism  in  the  minds  of  the 
mob  this  manager's  sin  was  interwoven  into  a  web  of  offence  with  the 
dangerous  teachings  of  the  Anti-Slavery  Society.  Garrison,  one  of  its 
founders,  has  coalesced  with  Englishmen  in  denouncing  his  countrymen 
as  sinners,  even  criminals  ;  therefore  the  slanderous  manager  was  an 
ally  of  the  abolitionists.  So  the  mob  seemed  to  reason,  and  acting 
upon  the  idea  they  rushed  up  Chatham  Street  to  the  Bowery,  in  a  wild, 
excited  mass,  gathering  with  tumultuous  shouts  in  front  of  the  theatre. 

Apprised  of  the  approach  of  the  mischievous  multitude,  the  doors 
were  closed  against  them.  The  huge  mass  burst  them  open,  and 
rushed  up  the  aisles  toward  the  footlights,  spreading  consternation  over 
the  audience.  The  play  was  going  on.  It  was  Jfetambra,  and  Forrest 
was  performing  in  the  principal  character.  The  actors  were  alarmed 
by  the  appalling  scene  not  announced  in  the  playbills.  Hamblin  and 
Forrest  tried  to  address  the  rioters  ;  their  voices  were  drowned  by 
yells  and  other  noises  from  the  throats  of  the  intruders. 

While  the  mob  had  full  possession  of  the  house,  a  large  body  of 
police  suddenly  appeared  and  drove  the  rioters  from  the  building.  Ex- 
asperated by  this  treatment,  and  more  excited,  a  cry  was  raised  : 

"  To  Arthur  Tappan's  house  !" 

The  cry  was  echoed  by  the  multitude,  and  a  racing  crowd  started 
dow  n  the  street.  They  were  diverted  from  Arthur's  house  to  that  of 
his  brother  Lewis,  in  Tiose  Street,  a  more  obnoxious  abolitionist  than 
the  other,  who  was  an  extensive  dealer  in  silks.  They  demolished  the 
front  windows  of  the  house,  burst  in  the  doors,  and  soon  filled  the 
rooms  from  which  the  family  had  fled  in  terror.  They  began  to  smash 
the  furniture  or  cast  it  into  the  street.  Chairs,  sofas,  tables,  pictures, 
mirrors,  bedding,  ornaments  were  thrown  out  into  a  promiscuous  mass, 
preparatory  to  the  application  of  the  torch. 

It  is  related  (with  how  much  truth  I  know  not)  that  during  this  wild 
scene  of  devastation  a  pleasing  incident  occurred.  A  portrait  of 
Washington  was  about  to  be  thrown  out  of  a  window,  when  suddenly 
some  one  shouted  : 

w  It  is  Washington  !    FOr  God's  sake,  don't  burn  Washington  !" 

The  roar  of  the  mob  instantly  ceased.  The  picture  was  tenderly 
handed  out  of  the  window,  passed  over  the  heads  of  the  crowd  from 
man  to  man,  and  left  fo:1  cafety  in  a  neighboring  dwelling. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830  1840. 


335 


Just  as  the  work  of  destruction  was  resumed,  the  police  came  swoop- 
ing- down  the  street,  when  the  mob  broke  and  fled  ;  but  finding1  a  pile 
of  bricks  they  armed  themselves  with  them,  rallied,  and  returned. 
They  assailed  the  watchmen  or  the  police  so  fiercely  that  they  in  turn 
were  compelled  to  fly.  Then  the  mass  of  furniture  and  bedding  on  the 
sidewalk  was  set  on  fire,  illuminating  the  whole  street.  The  fire-bells 
were  rung,  the  fire-engines  Avere  soon  at  the  place  of  danger,  the  mob 
was  dispersed,  and  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  street  was  quiet, 
and  Lewis  Tappan's  sacked  dwelling  was  in  the  hands  of  the  civil 
guardians  of  the  peace. 

For  these  fierce  demonstrations  of  mob  violence  the  abolitionists 
themselves  were  not  altogether  blameless.  During  the  excitement  on 
the  day  following  the  demonstration  at  Chatham  Street  Chapel,  some 
injudicious  member  or  members  of  the  Anti-Slavery  Society  caused  an 
incendiary  placard  to  be  posted  over  the  city.  It  was  headed  with  the 
words,  in  large  letters  : 

"Look  out  for  Kidnapf-ino  !  I""1 

Then  followed  a  wood-cut  representing  a  slave-driver  mounted  on  a 
horse  brandishing  a  triple-thonged  whip,  driving  before  him  a  colored 
man,  whose  wife  and  children  were  clinging  to  him  to  prevent  the 
dreadful  family  separation.  This,  as  a  thoughtful  man  might  have 
foreseen,  inflamed  the  mob  spirit  which  burned  so  fiercely  in  the  attack 
on  Mr.  Tappan's  house. 

Among  other  good  men  in  the  city  who  had  espoused  the  abolition 
cause  and  were  active  members  of  the  city  Anti-Slavery  Society  were 
Samuel  Hanson  Cox,  D.D.,  his  brother,  Abraham  Cox,  M.D.,  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Ludlow,  Isaac  T.  Hopper,  a  Quaker  merchant,  and  most  of  his  co- 
religionists, and  other  Worthy  and  highly  respected  citizens.  The  Rev. 
Dr.  Cox,  though  opposed  by  most  of  his  congregation,  who  were 
Presbyterians,  was  already  known  as  an  outspoken  advocate  of  freedom 
for  the  slave.  He  was  an  eloquent  preacher  and  much  beloved  by  his 
congregation,  who  composed  the  Laight  Street  Church.  Mr.  Ludlow 
was  also  a  fervent  Presbyterian  preacher,  father  of  the  well-known 
writer,  Fitzhugh  Ludlow,  and  was  pastor  of  a  church  in  Spring  Street. 
He  was  also  a  bold,  outspoken  opposer  of  the  system  of  slavery  in  our 
country. 

Society  in  the  city  was  quiet  on  the  surface  on  the  day  after  the 
attack  upon  Lewis  Tappan's  house,  but  in  its  lower  depths  —  the 
groggeries  and  other  realms  of  vice — there  was  a  slumbering  volcano, 
liable  to  be  uncapped  at  any  moment  by  the  least  disturbing  cause. 


336 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Throughout  the  city  the  riot  was  almost  the  only  topic  of  conversation, 
and  the  citizens  felt  an  indefinable  dread  of  more  trouble. 

On  the  morning  of  the  11th  Mayor  Lawrence  ordered  some  of  the 
city  troops  to  be  in  readiness  to  assist  in  preserving  the  peace,  if  called 
upon  to  do  so.  In  the  evening  their  services  were  needed.  At 
twilight  a  crowd  began  to  assemble  in  front  of  the  battered  dwelling  of 
Lewis  Tappan,  and  another  attack  seemed  imminent  when  the  police 
suddenly  appeared  and  dispersed  them.  They  rallied  elsewhere  in  con- 
tinually increasing  volume,  preparing  for  destructive  work  later  in  the 
evening. 

The  Twenty-seventh  National  Guard  had  been  called  upon  by  the 
mayor  to  assist  in  the  preservation  of  the  peace.  He  also  issued  a 
proclamation  calling  upon  the  citizens  to  do  what  they  could  to  main- 
tain order.  The  National  Guard  assembled  at  the  arsenal  to  the 
number  of  four  hundred,  and  there  awaited  orders.  At  twilight  the 
mayor  directed  them  to  march  to  the  City  Hall,  to  be  held  in  readiness 
to  act.  Colonel  Stevens  asked  for  ammunition.  It  was  refused,  when 
he  declared  he  would  not  move  a  step  until  furnished  with  ball  cart- 
ridges. The  mayor  then  complied,  and  six  rounds  each  were  given  to 
Ins  men. 

The  churches  seemed  to  be  special  objects  of  dislike  to  the  rioters. 
They  attacked  five  of  the  temples  of  worship — namely,  that  of  Dr. 
Cox's  church  in  Laight  Street,  Mr.  Ludlow's  church  in  Spring  Street, 
the  African  Chapel  on  the  corner  of  Church  and  Leonard  streets, 
St.  Philip's  Church  (colored)  in  Centre  Street,  and  a  church  on  the 
corner  of  Dey  and  "Washington  streets. 

The  mob  dispersed  at  Rose  Street  rallied,  rushed  across  the  town  to 
Laight  Street,  and  made  a  sudden  and  furious  attack  upon  Dr.  Cox's 
church  edifice.  They  smashed  the  windows  with  stones  and  bricks, 
and  rent  the  air  with  yells  and  with  horrid  imprecations  on  the  aboli- 
tionists. They  seemed  determined  to  lay  the  building  in  ruins,  but 
were  suddenly  interrupted  in  their  destructive  work  by  the  appearance 
of  the  mayor,  police  justice,  district  attorney,  and  a  body  of  police. 
Fearing  arrest,  the  cowards  ran  in  all  directions,  but  were  soon  re- 
united, evidently  by  previous  concert,  in  front  of  Dr.  Cox's  dweUing  in 
Charlton  Street. 

Warnings,  threats,  and  the  fate  of  Mr.  Tappan's  house  had  induced 
Dr.  Cox  to  remove  his  furniture  and  his  family  to  a  place  of  safety. 
The  mob  found  his  front  door  barricaded.  They  broke  it  open,  and 
had  begun  to  destroy  the  windows  and  the  blinds  of  the  lower  story 
when  detachments  of  cavalry  dislodged  them.    They  fell  back,  but  ral- 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


33: 


lied,  and  seizing  some  carts  made  a  barricade  across  the  street.  They 
finally  retired  without  being  attacked  by  the  military. 

Meanwhile  a  large  crowd  had  gathered  in  front  of  Arthur  Tappan's 
store  on  Hanover  Square,  and  began  to  assail  it  with  stones.  Fifteen 
or  twenty  watchmen  had  been  stationed  there,  but  were  overpowered 
by  the  rioters  and  compelled  to  fly  for  their  lives.  Alderman  Lalagh 
bravely  stood  his  ground  in  defence  of  law  and  order.  He  defied  the 
fierce  men  who  threatened  to  kill  him. 

"Break  open  the  doors  if  you  dare!"  he  shouted.  ''The  store  is 
Idled  with  armed  men,  who  will  blow  your  brains  out  the  moment  the 
door  gives  way." 

The  frightened  cowards  only  pelted  the  building  with  stones  and 
cursed  the  abolitionists,  and  when  Police-Justice  Lowndes  appeared 
with  a  strong  force  they  fled. 

The  Twenty-seventh  Regiment  had  marched  and  countermarched  in 
front  of  the  City  Hall,  before  a  turbulent  crowd.  About  ten  o'clock 
( -olonel  Stevens  received  orders  to  march  immediately  to  the  defence 
of  Air.  Ludlow's  church  edifice  in  Spring  Street,  between  Yarick  and 
Macdougal  streets.  It  was  a  very  obnox'  ^us  place  to  the  anti-aboli- 
tionists, for  several  anti-slavery  meetings  had  been  held  there,  and  the 
pastor  was  one  of  the  most  zealous  abolitionists  in  the  city. 

Before  moving,  Colonel  Stevens  ordered  his  men  to  load  with  ball 
cartridges.  His  troops  first  met  the  rioters  in  large  force  in  Thompson 
Street,  above  Prince  Street,  where  they  were  preparing  to  sack  Mr. 
Ludlow's  house.  Pressing  forward  with  fixed  bayonets,  the  mob  were 
pushed  back,  but  as  the  soldiers  wheeled  from  Macdougal  into  Spring- 
Street  they  were  fiercely  assailed  with  stones  and  other  missiles  thrown 
by  the  rioters  and  from  the  windows.  Many  of  the  Xational  Guard 
were  hit,  and  some  were  felled  to  the  ground.  It  was  with  difficulty 
that  the  exasperated  men  were  restrained  from  opening  fire  on  their 
assailants. 

Xear  the  church  the  mob  had  constructed  a  barricade  of  carts, 
barrels,  and  ladders  chained  together,  across  the  street.  On  the  top  of 
this  was  a  politician  haranguing  the  mob  and  encouraging  them  to 
commit  deeds  of  violence.  He  was  seized,  and  with  a  dozen  others 
was  sent  to  the  rear.  Already  the  rioters  had  pulled  down  the  fence 
that  surrounded  the  church,  had  broken  some  of  the  windows,  entered 
the  sanctuary,  tore  down  the  pulpit,  and  demolished  everything  inside, 
and  the  broken  fragments  were  carried  into  the  street  and  used  in  con- 
structing barricades.  One  of  the  mob  was  in  the  steeple  ringing  the  bell 
to  attract  rioters  from  elsewhere  when  the  Xational  Guard  arrived. 


338 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY 


He  too  was  seized  and  placed  in  custody,  and  the  church  cleared  of  its 
savage  invaders. 

Aldermen  who  had  been  sent  by  the  mayor  to  act  as  magistrates  and 
direct  the  military  became  greatly  alarmed.  They  actually  entered 
into  an  agreement  with  the  mob  to  let  them  leave  unmolested  if  they 
would  disperse.  They  tried  to  persuade  Colonel  Stevens  to  retreat  to 
the  City  Hall,  declaring  the  rioters  were  too  manv  and  too  strong  for 
his  little  force  to  hope  to  contend  with  successfully. 

"  There  is  no  retreat  in  the  case,"  said  Colonel  Stevens  indignantly. 
"  I  am  here  with  my  regiment  for  the  purpose  of  dispersing  this  mob 
and  quelling  the  riot.  Until  that  is  done  I  shall  not  return.  I  shall 
proceed  to  the  City  Hall  only  through  that  crowd.'' 

And  he  did  so.  In  defiance  of  the  aldermen  he  marched  two  com- 
panies up  to  the  barricade  in  the  face  of  a  shower  of  stones,  broke  it 
up,  went  through  the  scattered  fragments,  wheeled  into  Varick  Street, 
and  drove  the  mob  before  him  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  Then  he 
met  a  police  force,  and  with  these  allies  he  marched  the  two  companies 
back  again,  charged  through  the  remains  of  the  barricade,  and  pushed 
the  rioters  rapidly  back  to  Sullivan  Street.  He  severed  the  mob  into 
four  pieces,  and  restored  order  in  that  part  of  the  city.  The  conduct 
of  these  troops  was  admirable,  and  they  rejoiced  that  they  won  a 
victory  without  firing  a  shot  ! 

Meanwhile  a  portion  of  the  mob  had  assailed  the  house  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Ludlow  in  Thompson  Street,  broken  the  windows,  and  had  buret  in 
the  door  when,  fearing  the  military,  which  they  knew  were  near,  they 
suddenly  ran  away,  leaving  the  pastor's  family  more  frightened  than 
miff. 

On  the  way  back  to  the  City  Hall  the  Xational  Guard  marched 
through  Centre  Street,  and  in  the  region  of  the  Five  Points — then  the 
most  dreadful  sink  of  vice  in  the  city — they  encountered  a  large  mob 
which  had  broken  into  St.  Philip's  Church  edifice,  occupied  by  a  con- 
gregation of  colored  people.  They  had  wrecked  the  whole  interior  and 
destroyed  five  miserable  houses  near,  that  were  filled  with  disreputable 
persons.    The  troops  quickly  put  these  rioters  to  flight. 

The  danger  seemed  imminent  yet,  for  the  mob  had  arranged  for 
detachments  to  operate  in  various  parts  of  the  city,  and  so  divide  the 
duties  of  the  military  and  police  forces.  The  mayor  remained  at  the 
City  Hall  all  night,  and  the  next  morning  issued  another  proclamation 
calling  upon  the  citizens  to  report  to  him  and  be  organized  into  com- 
panies to  aid  the  police.  The  Twenty-seventh  Regiment  was  put  on 
duty  again  the  next  afternoon.    A  large  number  of  other  troops  and 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


339 


the  fire  companies  were  ready  to  act  if  necessary  to  preserve  the  peace. 
But  the  rioters,  exhausted  and  disheartened,  attempted  no  further  mis- 
chief at  that  time.  The  National  Guard  were  dismissed  on  Sunday, 
the  13th,  with  the  thanks  and  commendations  of  the  mayor  for  their 
efficient  services.  At  that  time  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  the  rioters 
were  in  prison  awaiting  their  trial. 

The  municipal  authorities  and  the  citizens  were  deeply  impressed 
with  the  value  of  the  services  which  had  been  rendered  by  the  Twenty- 
seventh  (now  Seventh)  Regiment  on  the  occasion  of  the  two  fearful 
riots  which  had  afflicted  the  city  within  the  space  of  a  few  weeks. 
The  common  council  unanimously  voted  the  regiment  a  stand  of  colors. 
These  were  presented  on  the  4th  of  June  the  next  year  by  Governor 
William  L.  Marcy,  in  behalf  of  the  corporation  of  the  city  of  New 
York,  with  appropriate  ceremonies,  in  the  presence  of  a  large  number  of 
ladies  and  gentlemen,  officers  of  the  city  corps  under  General  Morton, 
and  many  officers  of  the  army  and  navy.  On  that  occasion  the  regi- 
ment performed  many  skilful  manoeuvres.  Morgan  L.  Smith  was  its 
colonel.  A  piece  of  music  composed  for  the  occasion,  entitled  "  The 
Consecration  of  the  Banner,"  was  played,  when  the  governor  addressed 
them  in  a  most  complimentary  manner. 

On  the  evening  of  the  13th  (July)  a  fearful  anti-abolition  riot  oc- 
curred in  Philadelphia.  The  wrath  of  the  mob  seemed  to  be  specially 
directed  against  the  innocent  colored  people.  Forty  houses  occupied 
by  them  were  assailed,  and  some  of  them  destroyed.  The  blacks  were 
beaten,  one  of  them  was  killed  outright,  and  another  was  drowned 
while  trying  to  swim  across  the  Schuylkill. 

Among  the  bold  and  uncompromising  adherents  of  the  anti-slavery 
cause  in  Xew  York  was  Isaac  T.  Hopper,*  a  Quaker  bookseller  in 

*  Isaac  T.  Hopper  was  a  distinguished  philanthropist  and  a  member  of  the  Unitarian 
branch  of  the  Society  of  Friends  or  Quakers.  He  was  born  in  Deptford,  N.  J.,  Decem- 
ber 3,  1771,  and  was  a  birthright  member  of  the  society.  He  learned  the  trade  of  a  tailor 
with  an  uncle  in  Philadelphia.  In  his  childhood  and  youth  his  exuberance  of  spirit  was 
manifested  in  all  sorts  of  practical  jokes,  sometimes  very  provoking,  but  were  always 
accompanied  by  the  kindliest  spirit.  His  love  of  fun  remained  with  him  in  his  old  age. 
Strong  in  his  convictions  of  right  and  duty,  he  had  courage  to  defend  and  maintain 
them.  He  early  espoused  the  cause  of  the  slave  and  the  down-trodden,  and  his  career  in 
New  York  as  an  "  abolitionist,"  as  related  by  Mrs.  Child,  is  full  of  stirring  incidents. 
His  sympathies  were  also  with  discharged  convicts,  and  he  was  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  first  prison  association  in  New  York  and  the  founder  of  the  Women's  Prison  Associ- 
ation, organized  at  his  home.  For  some  years  Mr.  Hopper  was  a  bookseller  in  New 
York,  but  his  life  was  largely  devoted  to  works  of  benevolence  and  charity.  Mr.  Hopper 
died  in  New  York  May  7,  1852.  The  Home  of  the  Women's  Prison  Association  in  New 
York  is  called  the  "  Isaac  T.  Hopper  Home"  in  his  honor. 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Pearl  Street.  In  his  windows  lie  displayed  for  sale  all  the  pamphlets 
and  pictures  in  condemnation  of  slavery  published  by  the  Anti-Slavery 
Society  and  others.  "While  the  "  abolition  riot'1  was  at  its  height  he 
was  informed  by  a  friend  that  a  mob  was  coming  to  attack  his  store, 
and  advised  him  to  remove  the  pamphlets  and  pictures  from  sight. 

"Dost  thou  think  I  am  such  a  coward,"  said  Hopper,  "  as  to  for- 
sake my  principles  or  to  conceal  them  at  the  bidding  of  a  mob  ?" 

Presently  another  friend  came  in  haste  to  tell  him  the  mob  were 
near,  and  advised  him  to  put  up  his  shutters. 

"  I  will  do  no  such  thing,"  he  said,  firmly. 

When  the  rioters  came,  yelling  and  cursing  in  an  excited  throng, 
Mr.  Hopper  walked  out  and  stood  on  his  doorstep.  The  tumultuous 
throng  halted  in  front  of  his  store.  He  looked  calmly  on  them,  and 
they  looked  on  him  with  irresolution,  seeming  to  quail  before  his  glance 
like  a  brute  spell-bound  before  the  gaze  of  the  human  eye.  After 
pausing  a  moment,  some  of  them  cried  out,  "  Go  on  to  Rose  Street  !" 
and  they  rushed  forward  and  joined  in  the  attack  on  the  house  of  Lewis 
Tappan. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


THE  citizens  of  New  York  had  scarcely  settled  into  a  feeling  of 
comparative  security  when  in  August  they  were  again  disturbed 
and  alarmed  by  the  sadden  outbreak  of  lawless  violence  among  some  of 
the  mechanics  of  the  city.  For  some  time  there  had  been  growing  a 
bitter  feeling  among  mechanics  because  the  authorities  at  the  State 
Prison  in  Siny  Sin»-  had  introduced  mechanical  labor  among  the  con- 
victs,  and  employed  them  in  producing  articles  at  cheaper  rates  than 
the  market  prices.  This  feeling  had  not  yet  been  demonstrated  to  the 
public  eye,  when  in  August,  183-t,  it  was  suddenly  aroused  into  violent 
action.  At  that  time  the  edifice  of  the  University  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Washington  Parade-Ground,  was  in 
course  of  erection.  The  contractors  for  the  stone-work  found  they 
could  have  the  Westchester  marble  which  they  were  using  dressed  at  a 
cheaper  rate  by  the  prisoners  at  Sing  Sing  than  by  the  stonecutters  in 
the  city,  and  they  chose  to  have  their  work  done  by  the  convicts. 

No  sooner  was  the  fact  known  than  the  indignant  city  stonecutters 
resolved  to  resent  this  "  taking  the  bread  out  of  their  mouths,"  as  they 
said.  Political  demagogues,  always  ready  to  sei/.e  upon  any  excitement 
of  feeling  and  use  it  for  their  own  base  purposes,  stimulated  the  irrita- 
tion among  the  stonecutters.  They  held  meetings,  were  addressed  by 
these  incendiary  demagogues,  and  at  length  paraded  the  streets  in  pro- 
cession with  banners  and  placards,  on  which  were  inscriptions  which 
asserted  their  rights  and  denounced  the  contractors  alluded  to.  Incited 
by  base  fellows,  they  even  went  so  far  as  to  assail  the  residences  of 
several  worthy  citizens.  Their  wrath  arose  to  fever  heat,  and  appre- 
hending a  riot  and  an  attack  upon  the  workmen  at  the  University 
building.  Mayor  Lawrence  called  upon  the  Twenty-seventh  Regiment 
National  Guard  to  turn  out  and  preserve  order.  When  these  marched 
against  the  procession  the  latter  quietly  dispersed  to  their  homes.  An- 
ticipating further  trouble,  the  regiment  was  retained  in  camp  on  the 
Washington  Parade-Ground,  in  sight  of  the  University  structure,  for 
four  days  and  four  nights. 

In  the  space  of  little  more  than  three  months  the  city  of  New  York 


342 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


had  been  afflicted  with  three  riots,  two  of  them  very  serious.  The 
third  and  last  was  promptly  suppressed  before  it  inflicted  much  mis- 
chief. The  remainder  of  the  year  1834  was  passed  without  any  serious 
public  disturbance  in  the  city,  but  it  was  destined  to  suffer  from  an- 
other riot  the  following  year,  and  still  another  in  1837,  known  as  the 
Flour  Riot. 

New  York  was  then  rapidly  becoming  a  Cosmopolitan  city.  Immi- 
grants were  flocking  to  its  borders  from  many  lands,  and  the  easy  nat- 
uralization laws  were  transforming  them  into  American  citizens  in 
rapidly  increasing  numbers.  The  native-born  citizens,  perceiving  the 
extending  influence  exercised  by  these  newly  fledged  voters  in  munici- 
pal affairs,  were  alarmed  and  uneasy,  while  unscrupulous  demagogues 
used  this  material  freely  for  base  partisan  purposes.  The  events  of  the 
election  riots  in  the  spring  of  1834  had  intensified  the  distrust  of  the 
native  Americans  of  their  foreign-born  co-citizens,  and  there  was  an 
earnest  and  almost  universal  desire  felt  for  the  adoption  of  some  meas- 
ure to  check  the  growth  of  foreign  influence  in  our  country. 

Another  important  consideration  in  the  minds  of  thoughtful  Ameri- 
cans increased  their  anxiety.  A  larger  proportion  of  the  emigrants  and 
naturalized  citizens  were  adherents  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
whose  supreme, head  at  that  time  was  a  temporal  prince — the  monarch 
of  the  Papal  States  in  Italy.  To  this  prince,  as  the  spiritual  head  of 
his  Church,  every  I  toman  Catholic  owed  and  acknowledged  his  supreme 
allegiance.  In  this  divided  allegiance — that  acknowledged  in  his  oath 
at  naturalization,  and  that  imposed  by  his  Church  to  the  sovereign  of 
the  Papal  States — he  would  naturally,  if  occasion  required  him  to 
choose,  adhere  to  the  Pope  of  Rome  rather  than  to  the  government  of 
the  United  States.  This  position  of  the  naturalized  citizen  suggested 
imminent  danger  to  the  municipality  in  time  of  peril. 

All  through  the  winter  and  spring  of  1834-35  the  breach  of  good 
feeling,  especially  in  political  circles,  between  native  Americans  and 
foreign-born  citizens  had  continually  widened.  Demagogues  had  as- 
sisted in  widening  and  deepening  the  gulf,  and  antagonisms  caused 
the  American  or  Know-Nothing  political  party  to  be  formed.  At 
length  a  crisis  arrived,  when  pent-up  fires  burst  into  a  flame. 

In  June,  1835,  it  was  reported  that  a  military  regiment  under  the 
name  of  the  O'Oonnell  Guard  was  about  to  be  organized  in  the  city  of 
New  York.  Inflammable  Americans  instantly  took  fire,  and  in  certain 
circles  indignation  rose  to  fever  heat.  The  movement  was  denounced 
as  a  process  of  "  making  an  Irish  regiment  out  of  American  citizens," 
and  it  was  resolved  to  resent  it  at  all  hazards.    Matters  were  brought 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1810. 


343 


to  a  head  when  an  advertisement  appeared  calling'  a  meeting  of  the 
O'Connell  Guard  at  the  Bleecker  Street  House.  The  excitable  Ameri- 
cans made  free  comments  on  this,  and  uttered  threats.  Between 
them  and  the  Irish  there  were  recriminations  and  angry  disputes  which 
sometimes  ended  in  list-fights. 

Finally,  on  Sunday,  June  21st,  the  peace  of  the  city  was  disturbed 
by  such  a  fight,  begun  in  Grand  Street,  near  Crosby,  between  an 
American  and  an  Irishman.  The  duel  soon  grew  into  a  sort  of  field 
fight  between  a  score  of  men,  in  which  women  joined.  It  was  increas- 
ing in  violence  and  numbers,  and  was  promising  to  assume  the  dignity 
of  a  riot,  when  the  police  interfered  and  restored  order.  On  the  same 
day  a  quarrel  arose  in  ( "hatham  Street  between  a  negro  and  a  white 
man.  They  came  to  blows  ;  other  negroes  and  white  men  joined  in 
the  affray,  and  there  was  a  fierce  battle,  which  Avas  ended  by  the  police 
with  much  difficulty. 

There  was  a  more  serious  affair  early  in  the  evening  of  that  hot  June 
Sunday,  in  Pearl  Street,  near  Chatham  Street.  It  was  begun  by  a  duel 
with  fists  between  two  Irishmen.  This  example  was  contagious,  and 
very  soon  many  of  their  nationality  were  engaged  in  a  regular  pitched 
battle.  A  number  of  respectable  citizens  endeavored  to  suppress  the 
tumult,  but  the  uproar  continually  increased  in  violence  until  the  affair 
became  a  serious  riot.  At  length  Mayor  Lawrence,  accompanied  by 
a  large  police  force,  made  his  appearance,  arrested  the  ringleaders,  and 
dispersed  the  mob  for  the  time.  During  the  fight,  in  which  missiles  of 
every  available  kind  were  used,  Dr.  William  McCafferty,  a  well-known 
physician,  passing  by  on  his  way  to  visit  a  patient,  was  hit  in  the  face 
by  a  brick,  which  broke  his  jaw.  He  was  then  knocked  down  by  one 
of  the  ruffians  and  terribly  beaten.  His  ribs  were  broken,  and  he 
soon  died. 

On  the  following  day  the  mob  spirit  broke  out  with  fresh  vigor.  In 
the  Bowery,  near  Broome  Street,  was  a  tavern  called  the  Green 
Dragon,  a  favorite  resort  of  the  Irish.  A  mob  of  the  baser  sort  of 
Americans  attacked  it,  broke  in  the  doors  and  windows,  and  sacked  the 
house.  The  mayor,  Police-Justice  Lowndes,  and  a  strong  force  of 
police  hastened  to  the  scene.  Several  prominent  citizens  also  interfered 
in  trying  to  quell  the  riot.  Several  of  these  were  wounded  (Justice 
Lowndes  severely  so)  by  missiles  hurled  by  the  mob.  Such  scenes 
occurred  the  next  day,  when  public  notice  was  given  by  the  proprietors 
of  the  Bleecker  Street  House  that  a  meeting  of  the  O'Connell  Guard 
Would  not  be  held  there.  Peace  and  order  soon  succeeded  this  an- 
nouncement. 


344 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


In  the  year  1834  a  change  was  made  in  the  aspect  of  a  portion  of 
the  City  Hall  Park.  On  its  eastern  border  stood  a  building  of  rough 
stone,  comely  in  its  style  of  architecture,  three  stories  in  height,  with 
dormer  windows  and  a  cupola.  It  was  the  Debtors'  Prison.  The 
building  had  been  erected  for  a  prison  before  the  Revolution,  and  was 
known  as  the  New  Jail.  During  the  occupation  of  the  city  by  the 
British  (1776-83)  it  was  used  as  a  prison  for  notable  American  captives, 
and  was  called  the  Provost.  It  was  in  charge  of  the  notorious  William 
Cunningham,  the  British  provost-marshal,  who  made  it  famous  by  his 
crimes. 

After  the  Revolution  the  Provost  was  used  as  a  debtors'  prison, 
common  felons  being  confined  in  the  Bridewell,  which  stood  in  the 
Park  between  the  City  Hall  and  Broadway.  In  1830  tl lis  old  prison 
was  converted  into  a  building  for  the  safe  keeping  of  the  county 
records.  All  above  the  second  story  was  demolished  ;  a  roof  witli  very 
little  pitch  and  covered  with  copper  was  substituted  for  the  old  one  ;  a 
Grecian  portico  was  added  to  the  northern  and  southern  ends,  giving 
it,  with  other  modifications,  an  imitation  of  the  temple  of  Diana  at 
Ephesus,  and  was  stuccoed  in  imitation  of  blocks  of  marble. 

While  yet  in  an  unfinished  state,  this  Hall  of  Records,  as  it  was 
named,  was  used  as  a  hospital  while  the  city  was  afflicted  with  the 
cholera  scourge  in  \s?,2.  When  it  was  completed  in  1834  the  offices  of 
the  register,  comptroller,  street  commissioner,  and  surrogate  were  estab- 
lished in  it.  Gradually  the  various  kinds  of  public  business  so  increased 
that  in  18(10  the  whole  building  was  given  up  to  the  use  of  the  register. 
It  has  been  repaired  at  heavy  expense  from  time  to  time. 

The  year  1S3.">  was  made  memorable  by  the  most  disastrous  con  Ha - 
<rration  that  ever  aHlicted  the  city.  There  had  been  some  famous  fires 
before,  which  had  figured  in  the  history  of  the  town. 

The  first  of  these  notable  conflagrations  was  a  series  of  fires  that 
occurred  almost  simultaneously  in  different  parts  of  the  little  city  in 
the  spring  of  1741,  the  time  of  the  so-called  Negro  Plot,  already  de- 
scribed on  page  21. 

The  next  most  notable  fire  occurred  on  the  21st  of  September,  1776, 
just  after  the  British  army  had  invaded  Manhattan  Island  and  were 
about  to  enter  the  city  from  the  north,  mentioned  on  page  41.  Dur- 
ing the  British  occupation  of  the  city  a  destructive  fire  occurred,  laying 
sixty-four  houses,  besides  stores,  in  ashes.    See  page  43. 

The  famous  "  Coffee-Iiouse  Slip  fire"  broke  out  at  Murray's  Wharf, 
foot  of  Wall  Street,  between  one  and  two  o'clock  on  the  morning  of 
December  0,  1706,  and  before  it  was  arrested  laid  in  ashes  about  fifty 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


345 


buildings  well  stocked  with  merchandise.  The  destruction  was  com- 
plete in  the  space  of  about  four  hours.  The  lire  extended  from  Wall 
Street  to  Maiden  Lane. 

Coffee-I louse  Slip  was  the  scene  of  the  beginning  of  another  destruc- 
tive conflagration,  which  was  kindled  in  a  grocery-store  in  Front  Street 
on  the  night  of  December  18,  1804.  The  air  was  keenly  cold,  the 
wind  high,  and  the  flames  spread  so  rapidly  that  before  they  were 
checked  forty  buildings  had  been  consumed,  with  most  of  their  con- 
tents, the  whole  valued  at  nearly  s2, 000, (too.  Among  the  buildings 
destroyed  was  the  famous  old  Coffee-House.  At  that  time  the  popula- 
tion of  the  city  was  about  seventy  thousand.  It  possessed  twenty- 
seven  fire-engine  companies  and  four  hook-and-ladder  companies. 

On  the  morning  of  May  \\),  1811,  a  very  destructive  fire  began  in  a 
coachmaker's  shop  in  Chatham  Street,  corner  of  Duane  Street.  The 
now  venerable  merchant,  John  Degrauw,  a  boy  at  the  time,  was  pass- 
ing, when,  discovering  the  fire,  he  ran  down  Chatham  Street  crying 
Fire  !  and  soon  had  the  bell  of  the  Debtors'  Jail  a-ringine.  It  was 
Sunday  morning,  and  the  church-bells  were  ringing,  calling  the  people 
to  worship.  Many,  supposing  the  fire-alarm  to  be  a  part  of  the  tintin- 
nabulation, were  tardy  in  appearing  on  the  scene  of  the  conflagration! 
The  wind  was  high,  and  a  drought  was  prevailing.  Cinders  were  car- 
ried to  the  steeple  of  the  Brick  Church  in  Beekman  Street,  which  was 
set  on  fire,  but  was  soon  extinguished.  Before  the  flames  were  sub- 
dued, at  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  more  than  one  hundred  build- 
ings of  various  kinds  were  consumed.  Flakes  of  fire  had  ignited  forty- 
three  different  buildings  at  some  distance  from  the  conflagration,  but 
the  flames  did  not  spread.  * 

From  1811  until  the  great  fire  in  Xew  York  in  1835,  there  were  sev- 
eral pretty  severe  conflagrations,  but  none  very  extensive.  The  most 
notable  was  the  burning  of  the  widely  known  City  Hotel  in  April, 
1833,  which  had  so  long  been  the  leading  inn  of  the  city. 

The  justly  called  gveat  fire  of  1835  was  kindled  in  the  store  of  Com- 
stock  &  Andrews,  fancy  dry -goods  jobbers  at  No.  25  Merchant  Street, 
corner  of  Pearl  Street.  The  latter  was  a  very  narrow  street,  then 
recently  opened,  in  the  rear  of  the  Exchange.  The  fire  broke  out 
about  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening  of  December  10,  1835.  The  weather 
was  intensely  cold — so  cold  that  water  sent  up  from  the  fire  engines  fell 
in  hail.    The  mercury  marked  several  degrees  below  zero. 

The  conflagration  seems  to  have  been  started  by  an  overheated 

*  See  Sheldon's  "  Story  of  the  Volunteer  Firemen  of  New  York,"  pp.  174-194. 


346 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


stove-pipe  in  the  counting-room,  where  the  flames  were  first  discov- 
ered. The  contents  of  the  store  were  very  combustible,  and  soon  the 
interior  of  the  building  was  a  mass  of  flame. 

The  fire  streamed  out  of  the  doors  and  windows,  and  the  heat  and 
burning  cinders  were  carried  by  a  strong  wind  against  the  stores  on  the 
opposite  side  of  Pearl  Street. 

The  fire  department  had  labored  nearly  all  the  previous  night  in 
fighting  a  large  conflagration  at  Burling  Slip,  where  several  stores 
Avere  burned,  and  were  less  prompt  in  their  arrival  upon  the  scene  of 
duty  than  usual,  and  it  was  more  than  half  an  hour  before  a  stream  of 
water  was  poured  on  the  menaced  buildings  in  Pearl  Street.  The 
hydrants,  too,  were  mostly  frozen,  and  the  water  in  the  slips  was  so 
low,  owing  to  a  lon«r-continucd  north-west  wind,  that  tbe  firemen  were 
unable,  from  the  docks,  to  reach  the  water  with  their  suction-pipes. 
The  engines  froze  tight  if  not  continually  kept  at  work,  and  many  of 
them  were  rendered  useless  from  this  cause.  Under  these  circum- 
stances the  fire  rapidly  gained  headway,  and  narrow  Merchant  Street 
soon  presented  an  impassable  wall  of  fire.  The  only  way  to  reach  the 
focus  of  the  conflagration  was  through  William  and  "Water  streets  and 
Old  Slip. 

With  the  engines  bound  by  the  frost  and  an  inadequate  supply  of 
water,  the  Bremen  had  nothing  better  offered  them  to  do  than  to 
endeavor  to  save  property  by  removal.  To  this  task  they  actively  and 
effectively  devoted  their  strength.  They  were  joined  by  merchants 
and  citizens.  Goods  in  immense  quantities  were  carried  out  of  igniting 
stores  and  piled  in  the  Merchants'  Exchange  in  "Wall  Street,  in  the 
Dutch  Reformed  Church  in  Garden  Street,  in  Old  Slip,  and  in  Hanover 
Square.  Put  the  fierce  dragon  of  flame  soon  overtook  them  in  these 
places  of  fancied  security,  and  devoured  the  edifices  with  their  precious 
contents.  The  splendid  Exchange,  with  its  beautiful  interior  arrange- 
ments and  decorations,  its  grand  colonnade,  its  lofty  dome,  and 
the  fine  marble  statue  of  Alexander  Hamilton  by  Ball  Hughes,  was 
soon  reduced  to  a  ghastly  skeleton,  blackened  and  broken.  In  the  space 
of  a  few  hours  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  property  which  had  been 
removed  from  stores,  from  place  to  place,  for  safety,  had  been  destroyed 
in  the  places  of  refuge. 

Many  of  the  stores  were  new,  supplied  with  strong  iron  shutters, 
their  roofs  covered  with  copper  and  supplied  witli  copper  gutters,  and 
were  considered  absolutely  fire-proof.  But  the  fervid  heat  crept  from 
building  to  building  under  the  roofs,  and  shot  down  with  fury  to  the 
lower  floors,  setting  everything  ablaze  within.    "When  the  shutters, 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


347 


warped  with  heat,  were  unfastened  and  flew  open,  the  interior  of  these 
great  stores  appeared  like  huge  glowing  furnaces.  The  copper  on 
their  roofs  was  melted  and  fell  like  drops  of  burning  sweat  to  the  pave- 
ment. 

The  large  East  India  warehouse  of  Peter  Remsen  &  Co.,  standing  on 
the  northerly  side  of  Hanover  Square,  was  for  a  time  an  object  of 
absorbing  interest.  It  was  filled  with  a  full  stock  of  valuable  goods. 
Before  the  fire  reached  it.  goods  were  cast  out  of  the  windows  in  the 
tipper  stories  into  the  street,  and  with  merchandise  from  the  lower 
Hours  were  piled  in  a  huge  mass  in  the  square,  which  was  thought  to 
be  a  place  of  absolute  safety.  The  roaring  flames  came  swiftly  on; 
Pearl  Street  oy  both  sides  was  a  sheet  of  fire,  and  a  shower  of  living- 
cinders  rained  upon  the  pyramid  of  India  goods  in  Hanover  Square, 
and  they  disappeared  like  the  figures  in  a  dissolving  view. 

"  Suddenly  a  terrible  explosion  occurred  near  by,  with  the  noise  of  a 
cannon."  wrote  an  eye-witness  of  the  appalling  scene.  "  The  earth 
shook.  We  ran  for  safety,  not  knowing  what  might  follow,  and  took 
refuge  on  the  comer  of  Gouverneur  Lane.  Waiting  for  a  few  minutes, 
a  second  explosion  took  place,  then  another  and  another.  During  the 
space  perhaps  of  half  an  hour  shock  after  shock  followed  in  rapid  suc- 
cession, accompanied  with  the  darkest,  thickest  clouds  of  smoke  imagi- 
nable. The  explosions  came  from  a  store  in  Front  Street,  near  Old  Slip, 
where  large  quantities  of  saltpetre  in  large  bags  had  been  stored. 
Suddenly  the  whole  iirnited,  and  out  leaped  the  flaming  streams  of 
these  neutral  salts  in  their  own  peculiar  colors,  from  every  door  and 
window. " 

At  midnight  the  spreading  of  the  fire  was  checked  in  one  direction 
by  the  impassable  barrier  of  the  East  River,  across  which  a  firebrand 
Avas  carried  by  the  wind  and  set  fire  to  a  house  in  Brooklyn !  It  was 
soon  extinguished.  The  fire  meanwhile  spread  toward  Broadway.  It 
was  soon  evident  that  the  marble  Exchange  building  was  in  great  jeop- 
ardy. The  Post-Office  occupied  a  portion  of  it.  After  a  consultation 
between  the  mayor,  the  postmaster,  and  others,  its  contents  were 
removed  to  a  place  of  safety  just  in  time  to  avoid  destruction.  Scores 
of  men  tried  to  save  the  fine  statue  of  Hamilton,  but  did  not  succeed, 
and  that  portrait  of  the  great  statesman  soon  became  a  part  of  the 
common  ruin  of  the  edifice  which  the  merchants  of  New  York  were  so 
proud  of. 

*  Gabriel  P.  Disosway.  in  the  "  History  of  the  City  of  New  York  from  the  Discovery  to 
the  Present  Day,"  by  William  L.  Stone,  p.  473. 


348 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


The  Garden  Street  Church  and  its  adjoining  burving-ground  were 
piled  with  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  merchandise.  The  flames 
approached  it,  and  the  old  fane  with  its  precious  contents  and  those  on 
the  surface  of  the  graveyard  melted  before  them  like  wax.  There, 
too,  was  lost  the  venerable  bell  which  called  the  people  of  New 
Amsterdam  to  worship  within  the  fort  during  the  Dutch  rule  on  Man- 
hattan Island.  It  is  related  by  Mr.  Disosway  that  when  the  church 
had  taken  fire  some  person  began  to  play  upon  the  organ  which  had 
•riven  out  solemn  peals  of  music  at  the  burial  of  many  citizens.  He 
played  the  funeral  dirge  of  the  old  organ,  and  only  ceased  when  the 
lofty  ceiling  began  to  blaze  and  danger  admonished  him  to  fly  for 
safety. 

The  fire  spread  rapidly  in  the  direction  of  Coenties  Slip  and  WaH 
Street.  The  firemen  were  powerless  to  save  any  building.  At  about 
two  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  mayor  (Lawrence)  summoned  a  council 
of  aldermen  and  others  in  the  street.  The  late  General  Joseph  G. 
Swift,  an  eminent  engineer  in  the  public  service,  had  suggested  the 
necessity  of  blowing  up  some  buildings  not  yet  ignited  to  arrest  the 
Hames.  The  mayor  hesitated  to  take  the  responsibility,  hence  the 
council  of  aldermen.  Among  the  latter  was  Morgan  I,.  Smith,  alder- 
man of  the  Fourth  Ward,  who  was  also  colonel  of  the  Twenty-seventh 
(now  Seventh)  Regiment  National  Guard.  It  was  determined  to  try 
the  experiment.  Rul'us  Lord's  store  in  Garden  Street  (now  Exchange 
Place)  was  the  first  building  ordered  to  be  blown  up. 

The  mayor  sent  an  order  to  General  Arcularius,  in  charge  of  the 
arsenal,  for  gunpowder.    The  general  responded  : 

"  I  send  you  one  barrel  of  gunpowder,  all  there  is  in  the  arsenal." 

In  the  mean  time  no  one  could  be  found  who  had  experience  or  was 
willing  to  undertake  the  hazardous  work  of  blowing  dp.  It  was  finally 
assigned  to  Colonel  Smith.*  of  the  National  Guard.     The  cartman 

*  Morgan  L.  Smith  was  born  in  Duchess  County,  N.  Y.,  in  1801.  His  father  possessed 
an  ample  fortune  for  the  time,  and  the  son  was  not  bred  to  any  special  calling.  He 
finished  his  education  at  an  academy  in  Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y.,  in  1820.  He  had  desired  a 
cadetship  at  West  Point,  hut  his  father  preferred  to  have  him  engage  in  some  business. 
After  he  left  school  he  travelled  extensively  in  the  south-western  portion  of  our  country. 
In  1821  he  was  in  New  Orleans,  then  a  small  town.    He  returned  home  by  sea. 

Mr.  Smith  established  a  leather  commercial  house  in  New  York  in  1825  with  hi; 
nephew,  Jackson  Schnltz,  now  one  of  the  most  enterprising  merchants  and  public- 
spirited  citizens.  For  twelve  years  he  pursued  business  earnestly  and  successfully.  He 
was  an  officer  in  banks  and  other  institutions,  was  a  member  of  the  Chamber  of  Com. 
nierce,  and  an  active  and  efficient  officer  of  the  National  Guard,  as  we  have  observed 
in  the  text.    He  was  alderman  oi  the  Fourth  Ward.    After  the  business  revulsion  of 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


349 


who  brought  the  barrel  of  powder  was  so  frightened  by  the  shower  of 
burning  fragments  that  he  refused  to  go  nearer  the  conflagration  than 
the  corner  of  Pine  and  Nassau  streets,  when  the  colonel  called  on 
some  one  to  aid  him  in  carrying  the  powder  to  Garden  Street.  The 
late  James  A.  Hamilton  immediately  stepped  forward  and  said,  "  L 
will." 

They  covered  the  barrel  with  woollen  blankets,  and  these  two  brave 
men  carried  it  to  the  centre  of  the  basement  of  Lord's  warehouse. 
They  made  a  fuse  of  calico,  slightly  twisted  so  as  to  burn  briskly,  about 
twenty  feet  in  length,  fastened  one  end  in  the  powder,  set  it  on  lire  at 
the  other  end,  and  retreated,  closing  the  cellar  door  tightly  after  them. 
In  a  few  minutes  the  explosion  demolished  the  warehouse  and  made 
such  a  chasm  that  with  little  exertion  the  firemen  stayed  the  progress 
of  the  flames  in  that  direction.  "  When  the  powder  was  ignited," 
wrote  the  venerable  John  W.  Degrauw  (an  old  fireman)  to  the  author 
early  in  1883,  "  when  the  powder  was  ignited,  marvellous  to  relate,  I 
saw  the  building  lifted  several  feet  above  its  foundations  and  fall  in 
ruins." 

When  the  mayor  learned  that  there  was  no  more  powder  at  the 
arsenal,  the  late  Charles  King  (afterward  president  of  Columbia 
College)  volunteered  to  go  to  the  Brooklyn  Navy- Yard  for  aid.  He 
crossed  the  East  River  among  the  floating  ice  in  an  open  boat,  and 
returned  with  Captain  Mix  of  the  navy  and  some  seamen,  with  powder, 
who  immediately  took  charge  of  the  work  of  blowing  up  other  build- 

1837  he  went  to  Texas  and  opened  a  commercial  house  at  Columbia,  on  the  Brazos. 
President  Van  Buren  appointed  him  United  States  consul,  which  position  he  held  until 
annexation  abolished  the  office  in  1845. 

When  Governor  Marcy  was  Polk's  Secretary  of  War  he  requested  Colonel  Smith,  then  in 
Washington,  to  visit  the  camp  of  General  Taylor  ( who  had  been  sent  to  Texas  with  a  few 
troops)  at  Corpus  Christi,  and  furnish  him  with  detailed  information  about  the  aspect  of 
affairs  in  that  region,  for  he  could  get  but  little  from  the  general.  On  his  return  Mr. 
Smith  made  many  inquiries,  and  wrote  to  the  secretary  what  he  had  said  to  him  orally, 
"  There  will  lie  no  war."  Very  soon  afterward  the  Mexicans  crossed  the  Bio  Grande,  and 
war  was  actually  begun.  At  its  close  Colonel  Smith  was  actively  in  favor  of  annexa- 
tion, and  was  one  of  a  committee  of  five  to  hold  mass  meetings  of  citizens  and  learn  the 
mind  of  the  people.  A  vast  majority  were  in  favor  of  annexation,  and  it  was  accom- 
plished. 

From  that  period  until  the  Civil  War  Colonel  Smith  was  engaged  in  business  in  Texas, 
but  at  its  close  he  retired,  and  has  since  made  his  .abode  at  the  North.  He  occupies  a 
fine  residence  in  Newark,  New  Jersey.  He  is  a  devoted  member  of  the  Baptist  Church, 
and  has  generously  endowed  twenty  theological  scholarships  in  Madison  University,  of 
which  he  is  a  trustee.  He  is  also  a  trustee  of  Vassar  College  at  Poughkeepsie,  of  which 
he  was  one  of  the  corporators  chosen  by  the  founder. 


350 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  TORE  CITY. 


illgs.  The  brave  and  generous  act  of  Colonel  Smith  was  universally 
applauded.  * 

Meanwhile  the  greatest  exertions  had  been  made  to  prevent  the 
destroyer  crossing  "Wall  Street.  At  one  time  such  disaster  seemed 
inevitable.  The  famous  Tontine  Coffee-House,  on  the  corner  of  "Wall 
and  "Water  streets,  roofed  with  shingles,  took  fire.  Only  two  fire- 
engines  were  near,  and  these  were  almost  powerless  from  want  of 
water.  Seeing  the  danger  impending  over  a  large  portion  of  the  city 
if  the  great  building  should  be  consumed,  Oliver  Hull,  a  Avell-known 
citizen,  standing  by,  offered  to  give  £loo  to  the  firemen's  fund  if  they 
would  put  out  the  flames  on  the  roof  and  save  the  building.  The  fire- 
men immediately  made  a  pile  of  boxes  which  had  been  removed  from 
adjacent  stores,  placed  upon  it  a  brandy-puncheon,  on  which  one  of 
the  men  mounted,  and  so  directed  the  nozzle  of  the  hose  that  the  water 
played  on  the  shingles  and  extinguished  the  flames.  So,  the  upper  part 
of  the  city  was  saved. 

Farther  up  Wall  Street  much  property  was  saved  by  the  sagacity  of 
Downing,  the  "  oyster  king,"  as  he  was  called,  at  the  corner  of  Broad 
and  "Wall  streets.  "Water  could  not  be  had.  lie  had  a  large  quantity 
of  vinegar  in  his  cellar.    This  he  brought  out.  and  bv  throwing  it  on 

©  ©  '  <J  © 

the  flames  carefully  with  pails,  much  property  was  saved. 

It  was  estimated  that  an  area  of  nearly  fifty  acres  was  strewn  with  the 
ruins  of  almost  seven  hundred  buildings  and  their  contents,  prostrated 
and  consumed  by  the  dreadful  conflagration.  In  all  that  area,  wherein 
no  one  might  penetrate  until  late  the  next  day,  on  account  of  the  fierce 
heat,  only  one  building  was  left  entire.  It  was  the  store  of  John  A. 
Moore,  an  iron  merchant,  on  Water  Street,  near  Old  Slip.  Strange  to 
relate,  during  the  awful  ravages  of  the  flames  not  a  single  human  life 
was  lost,  nor  was  there  a  serious  accident  of  any  kind.  The  extent  of 
the  lire  was  given  as  follows  in  the  Courier  and  Enquirer : 

"  South  Street  is  burned  down  from  "Wall  Street  to  Ooenties  Slip. 
Front  Street  is  burned  down  from  "Wall  Street  to  Coenties  Slip.  Pearl 
Street  is  burned  down  from  Wall  Street  to  Ooenties  Alley,  and  the  fin; 

*  On  the  following  day  Mr.  Hamilton  (a  son  of  General  Alexander  Hamilton),  who 
assisted  Colonel  Smith  in  carrying  the  barrel  of  powder,  sent  him  the  following  note  : 

"  New  York,  December  17,  1835. 
"  Sir:  As  an  eye-witness  to  your  conduct  during  the  fire  of  last  night,  I  coDgratulate  you  upon  the  suc- 
cess of  your  exertions  in  arresting  its  destructive  course.    Your  decision  and  fearlessness  of  consequence* 
while  in  the  discharge  of  your  duty  are  deserving  ol  the  highest  praise. 

"  With  sincere  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

"James  A.  Hamilton. 

'  Morgan  L.  Smith,  Esq..  Alderman  of  the  4th  Ward." 


FIRST  DECADE,  1S30-1S40. 


351 


was  there  stopped  by  blowing  up  a  building.  Stone  Street  *  is  burned 
down  from  William  Street  to  Xo.  32  on  one  side,  ai  d  No.  39  on  the 
other.  Beaver  Street  is  burned  down  half  way  to  Broad  Street. 
Exchange  Place  is  burned  down  from  Hanover  Street  to  within  three 
(tool's  of  Broad  Street  ;  here  the  flames  were  stopped  by  blowing  up  a 
house.  William  Street  is  burned  down  from  Wall  Street  to  South 
Street,  both  sides  of  the  way  ;  Market  House  down.  Wall  Street  is 
burned  down  on  the  south  side  from  William  Street  to  South  Street, 
with  the  exception  of  Xos.  51,  53,  55,  57,  59,  and  61,  opposite  this 
office.    All  the  streets  and  alleys  within  the  above  limits  are  destroyed. 

"  The  following  will  be  found  a  tolerably  accurate  statement  of  the 
number  of  houses  and  stores  now  levelled  with  the  ground  :  26  on  Wall 
Street  :  37  on  South  Street  :  80  on  Front  Street  ;  62  on  Exchange 
Place  ;  44  on  "William  Street  ;  16  on  Coenties  Slip  ;  3  on  Hanover 
Square  :  2  >  on  Gouverneur's  Lane  ;  20  on  Cnyler's  Alley  :  79  on  Pearl 
Street  ;  76  on  Water  Street  ;  16  on  Hanover  Street  ;  31  on  Exchange 
Street  ;  33  on  Old  Slip  ;  40  on  Stone  Street  ;  23  on  Beaver  Street  ; 
lo  on  Janes's  Lane,  and  38  on  Mill  Street.  Total,  <>74.  Six  hundred 
and  seventy-four  tenements — by  far  the  greater  part  in  the  occupancy 
of  our  largest  shipping  and  wholesale  dry-goods  and  grocery  merchants, 
and  filled  with  the  richest  products  of  every  portion  of  the  globe.'' 

The  estimated  value  of  the  property  destroyed  by  the  terrible  confla- 
gration was  $lS.ooo,ooo  to  s20,ooo,000.  The  portion  of  the  city 
burned  over  was  quite  extensively  populated.  Hundreds  of  families 
were  turned  into  the  streets  that  bitter  night,  homeless  and  houseless, 
and  many  wealthy  or  prosperous  merchants  were  reduced  to  compara- 
tive poverty  in  a  few  hours.  A  greater  portion  of  the  fire-insurance 
companies  were  ruined,  and  therefore  much  merchandise  nominally 
insured  was  a  total  loss  to  its  owners. 

The  atmosphere  on  that  night  was  very  clear.  The  light  of  the  great 
fire  was  seen  at  Saratoga,  nearly  two  hundred  miles  distant.  The 
writer  of  these  pages,  then  living  at  Poughkeepsie,  seventy-five  miles 
distant,  saw  its  reflection  like  an  aurora  glowing  dimly  above  the 
crests  of  the  Hudson  Highlands.  The  fire  raged  all  that  night  and 
nearly  the  whole  of  the  next  day. 

It  was  early  perceived  that  an  immense  amount  of  property  among 
and  near  the  ruins  not  consumed  was  exposed  to  the  depredations  of 
thieves.    There  was  not  then,  as  now,  an  insurance  patrol,  so  the 

*  Stone  Street  was  the  first  street  in  the  city  that  was  paved  (with  cobble-stones'),  anil 
hence  its  name. 


352 


HISTORY  OF  N E W  TORE  CiTY. 


National  Guard  was  called  out  by  the  mayor  for  the  protection  of  the 
exposed  property.  Faithfully,  as  usual,  they  stood  guard  all  the 
remainder  of  that  fearful  night,  suffering  much  in  the  intense  cold. 
During  their  night  vigils  refreshments  were  furnished  them  from  the 
Auction  Hotel,  near  by,  and  on  the  ISth,  after  arduous  duties  for  about 
thirty  hours,  these  ever-ready  and  faithful  guardians  of  the  city  were 
dismissed.* 

As  soon  as  possible  after  the  news  of  the  fire  reached  Philadelphia, 
fire  companies  came  on  from  there  to  the  help  of  their  brethren  in  New 
York.  Firemen  also  came  from  Newark  and  Brooklyn,  and  all 
remained  until  the  danger  of  a  renewed  conflagration  was  overpast. 
Expressions  of  the  deepest  sympathy  for  the  sufferers  also  came  from 
Philadelphia  and  neighboring  towns  and  cities.  The  conflagration  was 
considered  by  many  as  a  national  calamity. 

This  dreadful  blow  seemed  to  paralyze  the  business  community  of 
New  York  with  its  benumbing  shock.  The  check  to  its  bounding 
enterprise  was  temporary.  At  noon  on  the  10th  of  December,  while 
the  ruins  were  yet  smoking,  a  meeting  was  held  at  the  City  Hall. 
Judge  Irving  called  the  assembly  to  order,  when  Mayor  Lawrence  was 
chosen  to  preside.  The  following  eminent  citizens  were  appointed  vice- 
presidents  :  Albert  Gallatin,  Preserved  Fish,  Louis  McLane,  George 
Newbold,  Isaac  Branson,  Enos  T.  Throop,  Campbell  P.  White,  John 
T.  Irving,  Samuel  Hicks,  George  Griswold,  .lames  G.  King,f  Benja- 

*  It  was  during  this  year  (1835)  that  the  Order  of  Merit,  which  originated  with  Colonel 
Morgan  L.  Smith,  was  established  in  the  National  Guard,  its  object  being  to  increase  the 
efficiency  of  the  regiment  by  cultivating  a  desire  to  excel  in  drill.  The  badge  of  the 
order  was  a  silver  cross  worn  on  a  red  ribbon.  This  cross  might  be  conferred  on  twelve 
members  of  the  regiment  in  each  year.  The  first  drill  for  the  order  took  place  at  the 
arsenal  yard.  The  Seventh  Company  won  the  honor.  The  contest  was  renewed  the 
following  year  ;  dissatisfaction  arose,  much  bitterness  of  feeling  was  engendered,  and 
finally  the  Order  of  Merit  was  abandoned. 

f  James  Gore  King  was  an  eminent  banker  and  merchant.  While  his  father,  Kufns 
King,  was  United  States  minister  at  the  British  Court,  he  had  his  two  sons,  Charles  and 
James,  educated  at  the  best  schools  in  England.  James  was  born  in  New  York  City 
May  8,  1791.  On  his  return  from  England  in  1803  he  entered  Harvard  University,  and 
graduated  in  1810.  He  studied  at  the  famous  Litchfield  Law  School.  In  1812  he  mar- 
ried a  daughter  of  Archibald  Gracie,  a  sister  of  the  wife  of  his  brother  Charles,  and  was 
afterward  established  as  a  merchant  in  Liverpool,  with  his  brother-in-law,  Archibald 
Gracie,  Jr.  In  1824  he  returned  to  New  York  and  became  one  of  the  firm  of  Prime, 
Ward  &  King,  bankers.  When  that  firm  dissolved  Mr.  King  formed  a  similar  banking 
house  under  the  name  of  James  G.  King  <fc  Sons.  Mr.  King  performed  service  as  adjutant 
in  the  war  of  1812-15.  In  1849  he  took  a  seat  in  Congress,  serving  one  term.  He  was 
for  many  years  an  active  member  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  and  was  its  president  at 
the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  at  his  residence  at  Highwood,  N.  J.,  October  3,  1853. 


F1IJST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


353 


mm  L.  Swan,  Jacob  Lorillard,  and  Stephen  Allen.  The  following 
equally  eminent  citizens  were  appointed  secretaries  :  Jonathan  Good- 
hue, Prosper  M.  Wetmore,  John  S.  Crary,  John  A.  Stevens,  Jacob 
Harvey,  lieuben  "Withers,  Dudley  Selden,  Samuel  B.  Ruggles,  George 
Wilson,  Samuel  Cowdrey,  James  Lee,  and  John  L.  Graham.  The 
meeting,  on  motion  of  James  G.  King,  the  hanker, 

"Resolved,  Th;it  while  the  citizens  of  New  York  lament  over  the  ruin  which  has  left 
desolate  the  most  valuable  part  of  the  city,  and  deeply  sympathize  with  the  numerous 
sufferers,  it  becomes  them  not  to  repine,  but  to  unite  in  a  vigorous  exertion  to  repair  the 
loss  ;  that  the  extent  of  her  commerce,  the  number,  wealth,  and  enterprise  of  her  citizens, 
justify,  under  the  blessings  of  Divine  Providence,  a  primary  reliance  upon  her  own 
resources  ,  that  we  consider  it  the  duty  of  our  citizens  and  moneyed  institutions  who 
stand  in  the  relation  of  creditors  to  those  who  have  directly  or  indirectly  suffered  by  the 
late  fire,  to  extend  to  them  the  utmost  forbearance  and  lenity." 

The  meeting,  on  motion  of  Dudley  Selden,  appointed  a  committee  of 
one  hundred  to  ascertain  the  extent  of  the  loss  and  probable  value  of 
the  property  destroyed,  also  how  far  the  sufferers  were  protected  bv 
insurance.  They  were  also  authorized  to  apply  to  Congress  for  relief, 
by  extending  credit  lor  debts  due  to  the' United  States,  and  for  a  return 
or  remission  of  duties  on  goods  destroyed  by  the  fire  ;  also  to  solicit 
the  general,  State,  and  city  governments  to  extend  their  aid  if  deemed 
expedient.  They  were  also  empowered  to  institute  an  investigation 
with  a  view  to  the  adoption  of  measures  to  prevent  the  recurrence  of 
such  a  calamity,  and  to  take  measures  for  the  immediate  relief  of  those 
who  were  reduced  to  want  by  the  conflagration.  The  then  leading 
men  of  the  city  engaged  in  the  various  fields  of  business  activity  were 
placed  on  this  important  committee.*    Only  two  of  the  members  of 

*  The  following  named  gentlemen  constituted  that  committee  :  Cornelius  \V.  Lawrence, 
Albert  Gallatin,  Preserved  Fish,  Samuel  Hicks,  Benjamin  L.  Swan,  Dudley  Selden, 
Jonathan  Goodhue,  Saul  Alley,  Prosper  M.  Wetmore,  John  T.  Irving,  John  Pintard, 
George  Xewbold,  Samuel  B.  Buggies,  James  G  King,  William  B.  Astor,  George  (iris- 
wold,  Enos  T.  Throop,  Samuel  Cowdrey,  Thomas  J.  Oakley.  George  Wilson.  William  T. 
McCoun,  John  G.  Coster,  Walter  Bowne,  James  F.  Bowman,  Louis  „UeLane,  Jacob 
Lorillard.  John  S.  Crary,  Jacob  Harvey,  Beuben  Withers,  Ogden  Hoffman.  Charles 
King,  Edward  Sanford,  John  W  Lcavitt.  Adam  Treadwell,  John  Leonard,  George  S. 
Bobbins,  William  Neilson.  Stephen  Whitney.  Joseph  Burchard,  Jacob  Morton,  John 
Wilson,  Mordecai  It  Xoah,  Philip  Hone,  William  L.  Stone,  Eensselaer  Havens,  Charles 
W.  Sanford,  William  Van  Wyck,  D.  F.  Manice,  John  Kelley,  H.  C.  De  Rham.  Isaac 
Bronson,  Campbell  P.  White,  John  A.  Stevens,  James  Lee,  George  Douglass,  Stephen 
.Mien,  John  Fleming,  John  B.  Lawrence,  William  B.  Townsend,  Charles  H.  Russell. 
James  Heard,  Charles  Graham,  George  Ireland,  John  Y.  Cebra,  Samuel  Jones,  Charles 
Augustus  Davis,  Robert  C.  Wetmore,  James  D.  P.  Ogden,  Andrew  Warner,  David  Hall, 
James  Conner,  Robert  White, Richard  Pownell,  Joseph  Blunt,  Samuel  Ward,  F.  B.  Cutting, 


354 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


that  committee  of  one  hundred  citizens  appointed  forty  years  ago  now 
(1883)  survive.  These  are  General  James  "Watson  Webb  and  Colonel 
Andrew  Warner. 

The  recuperative  energy  displayed  by  the  business  men  at  this  time 
was  marvellous  to  behold.  They  seemed  to  rebound  from  sudden 
depression  with  wonderful  elasticity.  The  newspapers  at  home  and 
abroad  greeted  them  with  words  of  sympathy  and  encouragement. 
The  business  ramifications  with  almost  every  city  and  village  in  the 
country  made  that  sympathy  assume  the  feature  of  a  personal  emotion. 
After  the  first  shock  was  over  no  gloom  pervaded  the  community, 
though  almost  every  family  was  more  or  less  affected  by  the  disaster. 

"  That  portion  of  the  city  which  has  been  destroyed,"  said  the  New 
York  Mirror,  a  fortnight  after  the  fire,  "  contained  more  of  talent, 
respectability,  generosity,  industry,  enterprise,  and  all  the  qualities  that 
ennoble  and  dignify  our  race,  than  the  same  space,  perhaps,  in  any 
other  city  in  the  World.  The  former  occupants  of  that  spot  gave 
employment  and  subsistence  to  more  of  their  fellow-creatures,  and  were 
the  dispensers  of  more  good,  more  liberal  benefactions  to  their  kind, 
more  useful  citizens  of  the  community  of  which  they  were  among  the 
leading  members,  than  probably  any  other  class  of  men.  They  were 
liberal  encouragers of  the  arts,  the  supporters  of  literature,  the  fosterers 
of  native  talent  in  every  branch  of  science.  ...  In  a  short  time, 
we  trust,  by  the  goodness  of  that  Providence  which  produceth  benefit 
out  of  evil,  that  this  dispensation  will  be  recounted  as  a  curious  event 
and  as  an  historical  fact,  whose  effects  are  unfelt,  and  whose  results 
have  terminated  in  improvement  and  beauty." 

John  H.  Howland,  John  Lang,  Daniel  Jackson,  J.  Palmer,  Richard  Riker,  James  Roose- 
velt, Jr.,  James  Monroe,  Richard  McCarthy,  Isaac  S.  Hone,  Peter  A.  Jay,  Amos  Butler, 
Joseph  D.  Beers,  David  Bryson,  Samuel  Swartwout,  Walter  R.  Jones,  Philo  L.  Mills, 
Morris  Robinson,  Benjamin  McVickar,  John  Haggerty,  Charles  Dennison,  George  W.  Lee, 
William  Churchill,  George  Lovett,  G.  A.  Worth,  Edwin  Lord,  B.  L.  Woolley,  William 
Mitchill,  Burr  Wakeman,  William  Leggett,  James  B.  Murray,  Peter  A.  Cowdrey,  John  L. 
Graham,  George  D.  Strong,  Jonathan  Lawrence,  Cornelius  Heyer,  James  Lawson,  Samuel 
S.  Howland,  James  Watson  Webb,  William  M.  Price,  John  Delafield,  James  McCride, 
M  M.  Quackenboss,  B.  M.  Brown,  William  B.  Crosby,  GulianC.  Verplanck.  William  Beach 
Lawrence,  Joseph  L.  Josephs,  S.  H.  Foster,  T.  T.  Kissam,  Robert  Bogardus,  William 
Howard,  Luman  Reed,  Robert  Smith,  M.  Ulshoefer,  Samuel  Thompson,  Robert  C. 
Cornell,  Peter  G.  Stuyvesant,  David  Hadden,  Benjamin  Strong,  William  P.  Hall,  Isaac 
Townsend,  Charles  P.  Clinch,  Rufus  L.  Lord,  J.  R.  Satterlee,  David  S.  James,  David 
Austen,  Seth  Geer,  Robert  Lenox,  Perez  Jones,  William  Turner. 

To  this  committee  was  added  the  following  committee,  appointed  by  the  Board  of 
Trade,  to  co-operate  with  the  Committee  of  One  Hundred  :  Gabriel  P.  Disosway,  Robert 
Jaffray,  Silas  Brown,  N.  H.  Weed,  George  Underbill,  D.  A.  Cushman,  Meigs  D.  Benjamin, 
Marcus  Wilbur,  and  Thomas  Denny. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


355 


It  was  even  so.  As  has  been  remarked,  the  rebound  w  as  marvellous. 
Before  many  months  had  passed  away  this  portion  of  the  city — the 
"burnt  district" — literally  arose  from  its  ashes.  "Improvement  and 
beauty"  had  done  their  perfect  work.  "  Business,  trade,  and  com- 
merce revived  more  rapidly  than  before,"  said  Mr.  Disosway.  "  In 
vain  do  we  search  for  a  chapter  in  ancient  or  modern  history  of  such  a 
conflagration  and  its  losses,  and  of  rapid  recovery  from  all  its  evils, 
with  increasing  prosperity,  as  we  find  in  the  great  fire  of  New  York  in 
December,  1835." 

The  spirit  of  the  business  men  of  the  city  which  prompted  immediate 
reaction  was  well  illustrated  by  a  circumstance  related  by  the  late 
"William  E.  Dodge  concerning  the  conduct  of  James  E.  Lee,  who  was  a 
dry-goods  importer,  and  was  subsequently  chiefly  instrumental  in  pro- 
curing the  erection  of  Brown's  fine  equestrian  statue  of  Washington  in 
Union  Square. 

"  As  I  saw  him,  covered  with  dirt,"  said  Mr.  Dodge,  "  the  day  after 
the  fire,  trying  with  a  gang  of  men  to  dig  out  his  iron  safe,  I  said  : 
"  1  Well,  this  is  very  hard.' 

"  '  Yes,"  said  Lee,  straightening  himself  up,  '  but,  Dodge,  thank 
God,  he  has  left  me  my  wife  and  children,  and  these  hands  can  support 
them.'    And  he  lived  and  died  one  of  the  time-honored  merchants." 

That  fire  beo-an  the  exodus  of  the  drv-ffoods  business  from  Pearl 
Street,  and  it  has  never  returned.  It  has  gradually  gone  up  town,  and 
the  finest  stores  may  now  be  found  nnles  north  of  the  Battery. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


THE  great  fire  in  the  early  winter  of  1835  was  a  strong  confirma- 
tion of  the  popular  wisdom  evinced  at  the  spring  election  that 
year,  hy  casting  an  overwhelming  majority  of  votes  in  favor  of  a  pro- 
ject for  securing  an  abundant  supply  of  water  for  domestic  and  public 
use  in  the  city.  Let  us  take  a  brief  glance  at  methods  which  had  been 
employed  for  furnishing  water  for  the  city  before  that  period. 

The  first  public  well  constructed  in  New  York  (then  New  Amster- 
dam) was  in  front  of  the  fort  at  the  foot  of  Broadway.  It  was  put  in 
operation  about  1058,  and  was  the  resort  of  the  inhabitants,  not  other- 
wise supplied,  during  the  remainder  of  the  Dutch  rule. 

This  seems  to  have  been  the  only  public  well  in  the  city  until  1677, 
after  the  final  occupation  of  the  town  by  the  English,  when  it  was 
ordered  by  the  municipal  authorities  that  "  wells  be  made  in  the 
following  places,  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  streets  w here  they  are  sever- 
ally made,  namely  :  One  opposite  Roelf  Jansen,  the  butcher  ;  one  in 
Broadway,  opposite  Van  Dyck's  ;  one  in  the  street  opposite  Derick 
Smith's  ;  one  in  the  street  opposite  John  Cavalier's  ;  one  in  the  yard 
of  the  City  Hall,  and  one  in  the  street  opposite  Cornelius  van  Bo r- 
sum's." 

In  1687  seven  other  public  wells  were  constructed,  and  for  the  pur- 
pose of  defraying  the  expense,  assessments  of  designated  property- 
owners  were  made,  the  city  government  paying  one  half  the  expense. 

During  the  earlier  part  of  the  last  century  the  city  government  con- 
tributed annually  about  for  the  construction  of  new  wells,  while 
the  inhabitants  living  in  the  neighborhoods  of  the  wells  paid  the 
remainder  of  the  expense.  None  of  them  were  allowed  the  use  of  the 
well  until  they  had  contributed  a  fair  proportion  of  the  expense. 

In  the  year  1 750  pumps  first  came  into  use  in  the  public  wells,  and 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  province  passed  an  act  to  enable  the  city 
to  raise  a  tax  for  the  construction  and  keeping  in  repair  of  the  pumps 
in  public  wells. 

So  early  as  1771,  when  the  population  was  but  twenty-two  thousand, 
an  attempt  was  made  to  establish  a  uniform  water-supply,  under  the 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


357 


direction  of  Christopher  Colles.  He  suggested  to  the  city  authorities 
the  construction  of  water-works  on  the  easterly  side  of  Broadway, 
north  of  (present)  Pearl  Street.  They  were  to  consist  of  a  large  well, 
pumping  machinery,  and  a  reservoir,  the  well  to  be  near  the  edge  of 
the  Collect  Pond,  and  the  site  of  the  city  prison  called  the  Tombs. 
The  reservoir  was  to  be  upon  the  high  ground  opposite  (present)  Worth 
Street.  City  bonds  were  issued  to  the  amount  of  $12,500.  This 
amount  was  increased  the  next  year  to  $13,000.  The  land  was  pur- 
chased for  a  little  more  than  $5000,  but  the  breaking  out  of  the  old 
Avar  for  independence  put  an  end  to  the  project. 

Immediately  after  the  close  of  the  war  the  subject  engaged  the 
public  attention,  and  from  that  time  until  1832  various  measures  for 
supplying  the  city  with  an  abundance  of  pure  water  were  proposed. 
Only  two  were  tried,  and  these  proved  inadequate.  These  were  the 
Manhattan  Water  Works  in  Chambers  Street,  and  a  reservoir  near 
Union  Square.  In  each  case  the  source  of  the  water  supply  was  an 
immense  well. 

In  1832  Colonel  De  Witt  Clinton,  in  response  to  a  resolution  of  the 
common  council,  reported  that  in  his  judgment  the  city  of  New  York 
should  rely  upon  the  Croton  Piver  for  its  supply  of  wholesome  water 
for  all  purposes.  He  set  forth  very  fully  all  the  advantages  of  the 
Croton — its  purity  and  unfailing  abundance,  its  superior  elevation,  and 
the  ease  with  which  it  might  be  introduced.  Not  having  made  sur- 
veys of  the  route,  Colonel  Clinton's  estimates,  summarized  below,  were 
very  inadequate.    They  were  as  follows  : 

"  From  the  best  opinion  I  can  form,  I  am  satisfied  that  the  waters  of 
the  Croton  Piver  may  be  taken  at  Pine's  Bridge  and  delivered  on  the 
island  for  a  sum  not  exceeding  sT50,000,  in  an  open  canal  and  with 
stone  linings,  ditchings,  and  walls,  and  including  drainages  and  other 
contingencies  it  may  swell  the  cost  to  $850,000.  The  expense  of  dis- 
tribution and  reservoirs  on  the  island  may  amount  to  $1,650,000  more, 
which  would  make  the  whole  cost  of  the  work  $2,500,000." 

In  January,  1S33,  the  Legislature,  at  the  request  of  the  com- 
mon council,  passed  an  act  authorizing  the  governor  to  appoint 
five  water  commissioners  for  the  citv  of  New  York  to  examine  and 
consider  all  matters  in  relation  to  supplying  the  city  Avith  a  sufficient 
quantity  of  pure  and  Avholesome  Avater,  the  commissioners  to  employ 
the  necessary  engineers,  surveyors,  etc.  Under  this  act  the  governor 
appointed  as  commissioners  Stephen  Allen,  B.  M.  BroAvn,  S.  Dusen- 
bury,  Saul  Alley,  and  W.  W.  Fox.  The  common  council  appropriated 
§5000  for  their  use.    They  employed  CanATas  White  and  Major  D.  B. 


358 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Douglass,  formerly  professor  of  engineering  at  "West  Point,  to  make 
surveys,  plans,  and  estimates,  and  instructed  them  to  make  examina- 
tion of  the  Croton,  Sawmill,  and  Bronx  rivers  in  the  counties  of  "West- 
chester and  Putnam,  together  with  their  several  tributaries,  and  to 
furnish  the  commissioners  with  a  map  and  profile  of  the  country,  and 
their  opinion  of  the  quality  of  the  water,  the  supply  that  might  be 
depended  upon  in  all  seasons,  and  the  practicability  of  conveying  it  to 
the  city  at  sufficient  elevation  to  preclude  the  use  of  machinery,  and 
answer  all  the  purposes  contemplated.  Also  to  designate  the  most 
feasible  route  and  the  best  manner  of  conducting  the  conduits  and 
reservoirs,  the  probable  amount  required  to  pay  for  lands,  water- 
rights,  damages,  and  cost  of  construction. 

In  bis  report  to  the  common  council,  in  October,  1834,  Major  Doug- 
lass (who  alone  was  able  to  make  this  survey)  recommended  the  Croton 
River  as  the  source,  a  masonry  aqueduct  for  the  conduit,  and  described 
two  routes — the  "  inland  route"  and  the  "  Hudson  River  route" — the 
former  being  forty-three  miles  and  the  latter  forty -seven  miles  long 
from  the  proposed  dam  on  the  Croton  to  the  distributing  reservoir  on 
Murray  Hill.  He  estimated  that  a  minimum  supply  of  twenty-seven 
million  gallons  a  day  might  be  delivered  into  the  reservoir  by  either 
route,  at  an  elevation  of  one  hundred  and  seventeen  feet  above  tide- 
water. The  cost  of  the  inland  route  he  estimated  at  $4,500,000,  and 
of  the  Hudson  River  route  at  $4,7»'>*.  l  ;»7. 

The  water  commissioners,  indorsing  the  views  and  conclusions  of 
Ma  jor  Douglass,  submitted  a  report  accordingly  to  the  common  council 
and  the  Legislature.  The  water  commissioners  were  reappointed,  and 
the  Legislature  by  act  made  provision  for  submitting  the  question  of 
"  water"  or  "  no  water"  to  the  electors  of  the  city  at  the  charter  elec- 
tion in  1835.  The  common  council  were  authorized,  in  the  event  of 
the  vote  being  in  favor  of  water,  to  issue  water  stock  to  the  amount  of 
$2,500,000,  and  to  instruct  the  commissioners  to  proceed  with  the  work 
—to  purchase  lands,  water  rights,  etc. — and  to  have  the  work  done  by 
contract. 

On  the  2d  of  March.  1835,  the  common  council 

"  Resolved,  That  a  poll  be  and  hereby  is  appointed  to  be  opened  on  the  days  upon 
which  the  next  annual  election  for  charter  officers  of  this  city  is  by  law  appointed  to  be 
held,  to  the  end  that  the  electors  may  express  their  assent  or  refusal  to  allow  the  com- 
mon council  to  proceed  in  raising  the  money  necessary  to  construct  the  work  aforesaid 
[the  Croton  Aqueduct,  etc.],  by  depositing  their  ballots  in  a  box  to  be  provided  for  that 
purpose  in  their  respective  wards,  according  to  the  provisions  of  the  act '  To  provide 
for  supplying  the  city  of  New  York  with  pure  and  wholesome  water.'  " 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830  1840. 


359 


The  election  occurred  on  the  14th,  loth,  and  16th  of  April  following. 
There  had  been  much  opposition  to  the  measure  among  tax-pavers  on 
account  of  the  expense,  and  so  clamorous  had  been  the  opposition  that 
friends  of  the  measure  were  most  agreeably  surprised  at  the  result. 
There  were  17,330  votes  in  favor  of  providing  for  pore  water,  and 
only  f>963  against  it.  Had  a  vote  on  the  same  question  been  taken 
immediately  after  the  great  fire  it  would  probably  have  been  almost  or 
quite  unanimous  in  favor  of  water. 

The  great  work  was  almost  immediately  begun.  On  the  7th  of  May 
the  common  council  instructed  the  water  commissioners  to  proceed 
with  the  work,  and  authorized  a  loan  of  $2,500,000,  at  five  per  cent 
interest,  to  provide  for  the  current  expenses.  The  commissioners 
appointed  Major  Douglass  their  chief  engineer,  and  directed  him  to 
organize  a  corps  of  engineers  as  soon  as  practicable.  An  engineering 
party  took  the  field  on  the  6th  of  July  and  proceeded  to  stake  out  the 
land  required  for  the  lake  formed  by  the  Croton  Dam  and  for  the  line 
of  the  aqueduct. 

The  surveys  and  resurveys  for  the  above-named  purposes  were  not 
completed  until  the  latter  part  of  the  summer  of  1836.  During  the 
progress  of  these  surveys  the  route  was  in  several  places  amended  and 
shortened,  making  the  distance  finally  from  the  Croton  Dam  to  the 
distributing  reservoir  on  Murray  Hill  about  forty  and  one  half  miles. 

In  October,  1836,  John  B.  Jervis  succeeded  Major  Douglass  as  chief 
engineer,  and  continued  in  that  position  until  the  great  work  was  com- 
pleted. Under  Mr.  Jervis's  direction,  the  map,  drawings,  and  working- 
plans  were  completed  during  the  winter  of  1836-37,  and  in  the  spring 
of  1837  the  work  of  construction  was  fairly  begun  by  placing  a  portion 
of  it  under  contract. 

It  was  originally  intended  to  have  the  water  cross  the  Harlem  River 
on  a  low  bridge  through  an  inverted  siphon,  but  in  1839  the  Legisla- 
ture passed  an  act  requiring  the  Harlem  River  to  be  passed  on  a  high 
bridge.  The  contract  for  the  bridge  was  made  in  August  of  that  year. 
It  was  constructed  of  stone,  and  supported  by  thirteen  arches  resting 
on  solid  granite  piers.  The  crown  of  the  highest  arch  is  one  hundred 
and  sixteen  feet  above  the  river  surface  at  high  tide.  It  is  fourteen 
hundred  and  sixty  feet  in  length,  and  crosses  the  Harlem  Valley  at 
One  Hundred  and  Seventy-fifth  Street.  The  water  is  carried  over  the 
bridge  in  a  conduit  of  iron  pipes  protected  by  brick  masonry.  There 
is  a  wide  footpath  across  the  bridge,  to  enable  visitors  to  have  a  view 
of  the  fine  scenery  from  the  lofty  position.  When  the  High  Bridge 
was  completed  the  water  commissioners  appointed  by  the  governor 


360 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


finished  their  labors,  and  the  whole  water  system  came  under  the 
charge  of  the  Croton  Aqueduct  Board. 

On  the  27th  of  June,  184:2,  with  appropriate  ceremonies,  the  water 
was  first  conveyed  through  the  aqueduct  into  the  receiving  reservoir  at 
Eighty-sixth  Street,  and  on  the  4th  of  July  following  it  was  received 
into  the  distributing  reservoir  on  Murray  Hill,  between  Fortieth  and 
Forty-second  streets  and  Fifth  Avenue. 

The  celebration  of  the  completion  of  the  Croton  Aqueduct  occurred 
on  the  14th  of  October,  1842.  That  memorable  event  will  be  noticed 
hereafter. 

The  year  1835  is  conspicuous  in  the  annals  of  Xew  York  for  the  per- 
fection of  an  ingenious  literary  hoax  which  puzzled  the  scientific  world 
for  a  moment,  and  set  journalistic  pens  in  motion  in  both  hemispheres. 
The  chief  perpetrator  was  a  modest,  genial,  unpretentious  young  Eng- 
lishman named  Richard  Adams  Locke,  who  had  been  employed  as  a 
reporter  OB  the  Conner  and  Enquirer,  and  was  then  the  editor  of  the 
Sun  newspaper,  in  the  columns  of  which  it  appeared,  credited  to  a 
supplement  of  the  Edinburgh  Philosophical  Journal. 

It  wa.;  a  pretended  account  of  wonderful  discoveries  on  the  surface 
of  the  earth's  satellite  made  by  Sir  John  F.  AY.  llcrschel  at  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  by  means  of  a  newly-constructed  telescope.  It  stated  that 
by  means  of  this  telescope  the  moon's  surface  was  brought  within  the 
apparent  distance  of  eight  miles  of  the  earth,  as  seen  by  the  naked 
eye.  The  topography,  vegetable  productions,  and  animal  life  were  all 
perceived  quite  clearly.  The  chief  inhabitants — the  family  of  the  "  man 
in  the  moon" — were  described  as  being  something  of  the  form  of  bats; 
in  a  word,  llerschel  had  given  to  the  world  a  revelation  of  a  hitherto 
unknown  inhabited  sphere,  the  nearest  neighbor  to  our  earth.  The 
construction  of  the  telescope  was  so  ingeniously  described,  and  every- 
thing said  to  have  been  seen  with  it  was  given  with  such  graphic  power 
and  minuteness,  and  with  such  a  show  of  probability,  that  it  deceived 
scientific  men.  It  played  upon  their  credulity  and  stimulated  their 
speculations  ;  and  the  public  journals,  regarding  it  as  a  grave  historical 
fact,  felt  piqued  by  the  circumstance  that  an  obscure  and  despised 
"penny  sheet''  should  have  been  the  first  vehicle  for  announcing  the 
great  event  to  the  American  people.  One  journal  gravely  assured  its 
readers  that  it  received  the  *'  supplement"  by  the  same  mail,  but  was 
prevented  from  publishing  the  article  on  the  day  when  it  appeared  in 
the  San  only  because  of  a  want  of  room  ! 

The  newspapers  throughout  the  country  copied  the  article  and  com- 
mented on  it.    Some  dishonestly  withheld  credit  to  the  Sun,  leaving 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


361 


the  inference  that  they  had  taken  it  from  the  famous  "  supplement." 
The  more  stately  newspapers  —  the  "  respectable  weeklies'' —  were 
thoroughly  hoaxed.  The  New  York  Daily  Advertiser,  one  of  the 
"respectable  sixpennys,"  said  that  "Sir  John  had  added  a  stock  of 
knowledge  to  the  present  age  that  will  immortalize  his  name  and  place 
it  high  on  the  page  of  science."  The  Albany  Daily  Advertiser  read 
••  with  unspeakable  emotions  of  pleasure  and  astonishment  an  article 
from  the  last  Edinburgh  Philosophical  Journal  containing  an  account 
of  the  recent  discoveries  of  Sir  John  Ilerschel  at  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope."  Some  of  the  grave  religious  journals  made  the  great  discovery 
a  subject  for  pointed  homilies  on  the  "  wonders  of  God's  works  more 
and  more  revealed  to  man." 

Scientific  men  were  equally  deceived  at  first.  On  the  morning  of 
the  appearance  of  the  article  in  the  Sim  the  late  Professor  J.  J.  Mapes 
had  occasion  to  start  for  Washington  on  business.  He  believed  the 
story,  took  a  copy  with  him,  and  handed  it  to  Professor  Jones,  of  the 
Georgetown  College.  The  learned  professor  read  it  with  most  absorb- 
ing interest,  with  a  profound  belief  in  its  truth,  until  he  came  to  some 
statements  about  the  telescope,  which  presented  an  impossibility  in 
science,  when  he  dropped  the  paper  and  said,  with  tears  starting  from 
his  eyes,  "  Oh,  Professor  Mapes,  it's  all  a  hoax  !  it's  all  a  hoax  !" 

It  is  said  that  M.  Arago,  the  great  French  savant,  proposed  in  the 
French  Institute  the  sending  of  a  deputation  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope 
to  confer  with  Ilerschel,  and  other  scientific  bodies  in  Europe  were 
deeply  stirred  by  the  idea  of  the  "  marvellous  discovery." 

I>ut  it  was  not  even  a  "nine  days'  wonder."  In  a  few  days  the 
story  was  discovered  to  be  a  pure  fiction.  Locke  had  discerned  the 
readiness  of  belief  in  theories  put  forth  by  men  like  Dr.  Dick  and 
others,  who  framed  them  to  suit  their  own  religious  speculations,  and 
he  readdy  engaged  in  preparing  the  "  Moon  Hoax,"  as  it  is  known  in 
the  realm  of  literature,  for  the  purpose  of  testing  the  extent  of  public 
credulity.  It  was  a  successful  experiment,  but  the  editors  of  journals 
and  scientific  men  who  had  readily  swallowed  the  bait  never  forgave 
Locke  for  this  cruel  infliction.  They  were  the  butt  of  universal  merri- 
ment for  a  long  time. 

The  secret  history  of  the  "  Moon  Hoax"  is  this  :  Mr.  Moses  Y. 
Beach  had  recently  become  sole  proprietor  of  the  Sun,  and  Richard 
Adams  Locke  was  the  editor.  It  was  desirable  to  have  some  new  and 
startling  features  to  increase  its  popularity,  and  Locke,  for  a  considera- 
tion, proposed  to  prepare  for  it  a  work  of  fiction.  To  this  proposal 
Mr.  Beach  agreed.    Locke  consulted  Lewis  Gaylord  Clark,  the  editor 


362 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


of  the  Knickerbocker  Magasme,  as  to  the  subject.  The  Edinburgh 
Scientific  Journal  was  then  busied  with  Herschel's  astronomical  explora- 
tions at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  Clark  proposed  to  make  these 
the  basis  of  the  stor}\  It  was  done.  Clark  was  the  real  inventor  of 
the  incidents,  the  imaginative  part,  while  to  Locke  was  intrusted  the 
ingenious  task  of  unfolding  the  discoveries.  Messrs.  Beach,  Clark,  and 
Locke  were  in  daily  consultation  while  the  hoax  was  in  preparation. 
It  was  thus  a  joint  product.* 

Taking  advantage  of  the  public  excitement  caused  by  the  publication 
of  the  Moon  Hoax,  Mr.  Harrington,  then  exhibiting  "  moving  dio- 
ramas" in  New  York,  produced  one  which  exhibited  scenes  in  the  lunar 
sphere  as  described  by  Locke.    It  was  painted  by  John  Evers,  the 

*  Moses  Yale  Beach,  one  of  the  most  enterprising  men  in  the  business  of  journalism  in 
New  York  forty  years  ago,  was  a  native  of  Wallingford,  Connecticut,  where  he  was  born 
on  January  1,  1800.  He  was  a  descendant  of  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Stratford,  Conn., 
of  that  name.  On  his  maternal  side  he  was  a  descendant  of  a  member  of  the  family  of 
the  founder  of  Yale  College.  He  was  apprenticed  to  a  cabinet-maker  at  Hartford.  Ener- 
getic and  ambitious,  he  purchased  the  remainder  of  the  term  of  his  indentures  when  he 
was  eighteen  years  of  age,  and  entered  the  business  world  on  his  own  account  at  North- 
ampton, Mass.  There,  with  a  partner,  he  opened  a  cabinet-making  establishment,  and 
soon  afterward  received  the  first  premium  of  the  Franklin  Institute  for  the  best  cabinet- 
ware  on  exhibition. 

Mr.  Beach  married  Nancy  Day,  a  sister  of  the  founder  of  the  Stin  newspaper,  and  in 
1821  established  himself  in  business  in  Si>ringneld,  Mass.  Possessed  of  genius  for  in- 
vention, several  projects  claimed  his  attention.  A  favorite  one  was  aerial  navigation. 
One  of  his  daily  associates  was  Thomas  Blanchard,  inventor  of  the  stern-wheel  steamboat 
and  the  lathe  for  turning  irregular  forms,  such  as  lasts,  gun-stocks,  etc.  The  two  neigh- 
bors were  so  intimate  that  Mr.  Beach's  friends  regarded  them  as  joint  inventors  of  thf> 
stern-wheel. 

Mr.  Beach  was  also  intimate  with  the  paper-makers  in  his  neighborhood,  and  he  de- 
vised the  simple  machine  now  in  universal  use  to  obviate  the  necessity  of  a  large  amount 
of  hand  labor  in  cutting  the  rags.  This  led  to  his  obtaining  an  interest  in  a  paper- 
mill  at  Saugerties,  on  the  Hudson,  and  to  that  place  he  removed  with  his  family  in  1827. 

In  1835  Mr.  Beach  purchased  an  interest  in  the  Sun  newspaper,  and  finally  he  became 
the  sole  proprietor  of  it.  His  management  of  the  business  from  the  beginning  was 
marked  by  great  enterprise  in  the  adoption  of  new  methods  for  obtaining  the  earliest 
intelligence  of  current  events  for  his  paper.  On  special  occasions  he  established  daily 
expresses.  For  example  :  During  the  trial  at  Utica  of  Alexander  McLeod,  a  British  sub- 
ject, for  complicity  in  the  burning  of  the  steamboat  Caroline  in  the  Niagara  River,  an 
express  was  run  between  that  city  and  the  Sun  office  in  New  York.  Another  was  run 
from  Halifax  to  New  York,  carrying  European  news  brought  by  the  Cunard  steamships, 
then  the  only  regular  line  of  vessels  carrying  the  mails  between  Europe  and  America. 
Frequently  expresses  were  run  from  Boston  and  from  Albany  to  New  York  at  the  expense 
of  Mr.  Beach.  Those  from  Boston  were  usually  confided  to  Alvin  Adams  and  his  associ- 
ates. In  this  service  Mr.  Dinsmore,  the  (present)  president  of  the  Adams  Express  Com- 
pany, distinguished  himself  by  celerity  of  movement  with  a  single  horse  between  Spring- 
field and  Hartford,  in  forwarding  Mr.  Beach's  news  budget. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1 SAO. 


S63 


scene-painter  at  the  Park  Theatre,  who  is  still  living  (1883),  one  of  the 
three  survivors  of  the  founders  of  the  National  Academy  of  the  Arts  of 
Design.  It  was  very  popular  for  a  while.  The  Hoax  gave  the  Sun  a 
great  business  impetus. 

This  was  the  era  of  the  advent  of  two  mighty  powers  which  have 
played  a  most  important  part  in  the  growth,  prosperity,  and  marvellous 
expansion  in  the  wealth  and  population  of  the  city  of  New  York. 
These  were  railways  and  ocean  steam  navigation. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  decade,  steamboats,  which  had  been  in 
operation  only  about  twenty  years,  were  comparatively  few  in  num- 
ber ;  and  the  first  charter  given  to  a  railway  company  in  the  United 
States  was  granted  by  the  Legislature  of  New  York  to  the  Mohawk 

To-day,  on  the  roof  of  the  Commercial  Advertiser  (the  old  .Sun)  building,  corner  of 
Nassau  and  Fulton  streets,  may  be  seen  a  structure  erected  by  Mr.  Beach  as  the  abode 
of  numerous  carrier-pigeons,  the  services  of  which  were  often  used  in  the  swift  trans- 
mission of  news  to  the  Sun  from  many  directions.  Sometimes  a  pigeon  was  set  free  on 
the  deck  of  a  just-arrived  steamship  from  Liverpool  in  Boston  harbor,  with  European 
news  wrapped  about  its  legs  ;  others  would  come  from  political  nominating  conventions, 
from  race-courses,  and  from  other  public  gatherings,  with  news  of  the  results.  But  with 
the  advent  of  the  electro-magnetic  telegraph  these  enterprises  were  superseded  :  Mr. 
Beach  found  his  "  occupation  gone." 

When  the  war  with  Mexico  was  agitating  the  country  the  telegraph  wires  were  not 
extended  farther  southward  than  Richmond,  Va.  The  "  fast  mail  "  then  occupied  seven 
days  and  nights  in  the  transit  between  New  Orleans  and  New  York.  It  was  the  quickest 
method  for  commtinication  between  the  two  cities,  and  consequently  from  the  seat  of 
war.  Mr.  Beach  was  satisfied  that  the  time  might  be  much  shortened  by  running  an 
express  somewhere.  He  sent  his  son  to  investigate  the  matter,  and  it  was  found  that  the 
route  between  the  cities  of  Mobile  and  Montgomery,  Alabama,  which  occupied  the  "  fast 
mail  "  thirty-six  houi's,  might  be  traversed  in  twelve  hours  by  a  horse  and  his  rider.  Mr. 
Beach  established  an  express  with  this  result,  and  it  was  continued  several  months.  He 
asked  his  fellow-publishers  to  join  in  the  expense  of  this  important  enterprise.  Tiiey 
did  so,  and  this  was  the  origin  of  the  alliance  of  the  leading  newspapers  of  the  country 
known  as  the  "  Associated  Press." 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  not  generally  known  that  Mr.  Beach  was  instrumental  in 
obtaining  the  basis  of  the  treaty  of  peace  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico  at 
Guadaloupe  Hidalgo,  in  18A8.  Impressed  with  the  disastrous  effects  of  war  upon  any 
country,  he  conceived  a  project  of  ending  this  one  through  the  indirect  intervention  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  clergy.  His  acquaintance  with  Bishop  Hughes  and  with  President 
Polk  and  his  cabinet  opened  the  door  for  proceedings  in  that  direction.  With  simple 
letters  of  introduction  and  commendation  he  went  to  Mexico,  obtained  important  inter- 
views, and  secured  the  points  of  agreement  on  which  peace  was  afterward  ratified. 

While  in  Mexico  Mr.  Beach  felt  the  first  symptoms  of  the  disease  (paralysis)  which 
finally  terminated  his  life.  After  struggling  against  it  for  some  time  he  retired  from 
business  late  in  1849.  and  took  up  his  residence  among  his  native  hills,  where  he  lived 
quietly  twenty  years  longer,  dying  January  19,  1808. 

Mr.  Beach  was  a  warm  friend  of  popular  education,  and  in  all  matters  of  public  need 
he  was  ever  an  active  worker. 


364 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


and  Hudson  Railroad  Company  in  1825.  This  railroad,  which  ex- 
tended from  Albany  on  the  Hudson  to  Schenectady  on  the  Mohawk 
River,  a  distance  of  about  sixteen  miles,  was  completed  in  the  summer 
of  1831.  It  was  opened  for  passenger  traffic  on  the  9th  of  August. 
The  first  passenger  train  went  over  the  road  from  Albany  to  Schenec- 
tady and  back  on  that  day,  carrying  twelve  citizens  of  Albany.  One 
of  these  was  the  late  Thurlow  "Weed,  who  was  the  representative  of  the 
press.  On  the  crown  of  each  of  the  two  steep  slopes  leading  to  the 
Hudson  and  the  Mohawk  there  was  a  stationary  engine  to  place  the 
train  on  the  summit  of  the  high  plateau,  an  extensive  pine-barren. 
The  cars  were  ordinary  stage-coach  bodies  on  four-wheeled  trucks,  and 
were  drawn  by  a  very  small  engine  constructed  by  the  Kembles  at  the 
West  Point  foundry,  Cold  Spring,  and  named  De  Witt  Clinton.  The 
cars  were  connected  by  a  three-link  chain.  There  were  seats  on  the 
tops  of  the  coaches,  where  the  passengers  screened  themselves  with 
umbrellas  from  flying  sparks  from  the  locomotive,  that  was  fed  with 
pine  wood.  These  umbrellas  were  sometimes  made  skeletons  by  fire 
when  the  end  of  a  journey  was  reached.  Passengers  frequently  had 
holes  burned  in  their  clothes.  Such  was  the  beginning  of  the  magnifi- 
cent railway  system  which  now  radiates  from  New  York  City  and 
transports  annually  to  and  from  the  metropolis  merchandise  valued  at 
billions  of  dollars,  as  well  as  millions  of  human  beings.  This  is  the 
marvellous  growth  of  that  single  promoter  of  business  in  the  city  of 
New  York  within  the  space  of  fifty  years. 

The  first  instance  of  ocean  steam  navigation  originated  in  the  harbor 
of  New  York.  In  the  year  1808  the  steamboat  Phoenix,  built  at 
Hoboken,  opposite  New  York,  by  John  C.  Stevens,  was  sent  round  to 
the  Delaware  River.  She  had  been  intended  for  navigating  the 
Hudson  River,  but  Livingston  and  Fulton  had  procured  an  act  from 
the  Legislature  giving  them  a  monopoly  of  navigation  by  steam  on  that 
stream. 

This  bold  experiment  was  followed  by  one  still  bolder  in  1810.  In 
that  year  the  steamship  Savannah,  built  in  New  York  by  Fitchett  & 
('rocket  for  Daniel  Dodd,  of  Savannah,  Georgia,  crossed  the  Atlantic 
<  )cean  from  that  port  to  Liverpool,  and  after  tarrying  there  some  days 
went  on  to  the  Baltic  Sea  and  reached  St.  Petersburg,  her  destina- 
tion. Her  whole  sailing  time  from  Savannah  to  St.  Petersburg  was 
only  twenty-six  days.    Her  commander  was  Captain  Moses  Rogers. 

The  Savannah  was  a  vessel  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  tons  burden, 
and  her  engine,  constructed  by  Stephen  Yail  and  Daniel  Dodd,  of 
Morristown,  N.  J.,  was  ninety-horse  power.    She  carried  only  seventy- 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


365 


five  tons  of  coal  (the  amount  consumed  each  day  by  one  of  our  large 
ocean  steamers  now)  and  twenty-five  cords  of  wood.  She  was  also 
furnished  with  sails. 

On  the  arrival  of  the  Savaimah  in  the  Mersey  she  attracted  much 
attention.  Compelled  to  lie  outside  the  bar  until  the  tide  should  serve, 
hundreds  of  people  went  off  in  boats  to  see  her. 

"  During  this  time  she  had  all  her  colors  flying,"  narrates  the  cap- 
tain's log-book,  "  when  a  boat  from  a  British  man-of-war  came  along- 
side and  hailed.  The  sailing-master  was  on  deck  at  the  time.  The 
officer  of  the  boat  asked  him  : 

"  '  Where  is  your  master  ? ' 

"  '  I  have  no  master,'  was  the  laconic  reply. 

"  '  Where's  your  captain,  then  ? ' 

"  '  lie's  below.    Do  you  want  to  see  him  ? ' 

"  'I  do,  sir.' 

"  The  captain,  who  was  then  below,  on  being  called,  asked  what  he 
wanted,  to  which  the  officer  answered  : 
"  '  Why  do  you  wear  that  pennant,  sir  ? ' 
"  '  Because  my  country  allows  me  to,  sir.' 

"  '  My  commander  thinks  it  was  done  to  insult  him,  and  if  you  don't 
take  it  down  he  will  send  a  force  that  will  do  it. ' 
"  Captain  Rogers  then  exclaimed  to  the  engineer  : 
"  '  Get  the  hot- water  engine  ready!  ' 

"  Although  there  was  no  such  machine  on  board  the  vessel,  the 
order  had  the  desired  effect,  and  John  Bull  was  glad  to  paddle  off  as 
fast  as  possible. "  * 

As  the  Sava/rmah  entered  the  harbor,  the  shipping,  piers,  and  roofs 
of  houses  were  thronged  with  wondering  spectators,  and  naval  officers, 
noblemen,  and  merchants  visited  her,  and  were  very  curious  to  ascer- 
tain her  speed,  destination,  and  other  particulars. 

The  Savannah  remained  at  Liverpool  twenty-five  days,  and  became 
an  object  of  suspicion.  The  journals  suggested  that  she  might  "  in 
some  manner  be  connected  with  the  ambitious  views  of  the  United 
States."  It  was  known  that  Jerome  Bonaparte,  of  Baltimore,  had 
offered  a  large  reward  to  any  one  who  should  succeed  in  releasing  his 
brother  Napoleon  from  St.  Helena,  and  some  surmised  that  the  Savan- 
nah had  this  undertaking  in  view. 

Sailing  from  Liverpool  late  in  July,  the  Sam  ninth  touched  at  Copen- 

*  "  The  Log-Book  of  the  Savannah,"  by  Dr.  H.  C.  Bolton,  in  Harper's  Magazine,  vol. 
liv.  p.  345. 


366 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


hagen  and  at  Stockholm,  where  she  excited  great  curiosity.  At  the 
latter  place  she  was  visited  hy  the  royal  family,  and  on  the  invitation 
of  Christopher  Hughes,  the  American  minister  at  Stockholm,  she  made 
an  excursion  among  the  neighboring  islands.  Arriving  at  St.  Peters- 
burg early  in  September,  she  remained  there  a  month,  and  then  "  set 
sail  on  her  homeward  voyage  with  about  eighty  sail  of  shipping." 

This  achievement  of  the  Savannah,  a  Xew  York  built  vessel,  seems 
to  have  been  forgotten  when,  nearly  twenty  years  afterward,  on  the 
arrival  in  Xew  York  harbor  of  the  steamships  Sir! us  and  Great  Western, 
the  Xew  York  Krprexx  said  that  it  produced  "  unusual  joy  and  excite- 
ment in  the  city,  it  being  almost  universally  considered  as  a  new  era  in 
the  history  of  Atlantic  navigation." 

It  seems  to  have  been  forgotten  then — indeed  it  is  hardly  known  now 
— that  Xew  York  is  entitled  to  the  credit  of  a  pioneer  in  ocean  steam 
navigation.  Nevertheless  it  is  so.  In  the  vear  1S21  or  1S22  the  emi- 
nent  shipbuilder.  Henry  Eckford,  completed  a  steamship  (which  was 
also  fitted  for  sails)  for  David  Dunham,  an  old  and  prominent  auction- 
eer, which  was  named  Robert  Fulton.  She  was  fitted  out  for  carrying 
on  freight  and  passenger  business  between  Xew  York,  Xew  Orleans, 
and  Havana.  After  making  a  number  of  successful  voyages  on  that 
route  she  was  sold  to  the  Brazilian  Government  on  account  of  the  pecu- 
niary embarrassments  of  her  owner.  Mr.  Dunham  afterward  lost  his 
life  by  being  knocked  overboard  from  a  sloop  while  on  a  passage  be- 
tween Albany  and  Xew  York.  The  Fulton  was  converted  into  a  war- 
vessel,  carrying  sixteen  guns,  and  was  the  fastest  sailer  in  the  Brazilian 
navy. 

The  beginning  of  regular  ocean  steam  navigation  between  Europe 
and  America  was  postponed  until  l.s3s.  The  unwisdom  of  the  Ameri- 
can Government  and  the  jealousy  of  the  British  public  of  everything 
originating  in  America  were  the  principal  causes  which  effected  this 
postponement.  Even  with  the  practical  proof  of  the  feasibility  of 
ocean  steam  navigation  offered  by  the  Savannah  in  the  harbor  of  Liver- 
pool, England,  the  great  philosopher,  Dionysius  Lardner,  proved  to  his 
own  satisfaction  and  to  that  of  the  average  Englishman  that  it  could 
not  be  done  ! 

Enterprising  and  thoughtful  Americans  had  for  some  time  cherished 
a  project  for  the  establishment  of  lines  of  ocean  steamships,  and  early 
in  1835  Xathaniel  Cobb,  of  the  old  Black  Ball  line  of  sailing  packets, 
proposed  a  line  of  steamships  to  run  between  Xew  York  and  Liverpool, 
and  application  was  made  to  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Xew  York 
for  an  act  of  incorporation.    But  nothing  came  of  it.    Almost  simulta- 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


367 


neously  enterprising  citizens  of  Bristol,  England,  with  others,  projected 
a  line  of  ocean  steamships  between  that  port  and  New  York,  and  in  the 
spring  of  1838  the  Sirius  sailed  from  that  port  for  New  York — the  port 
in  western  England  out  of  which  sailed  Sebastian  Cabot  three  hundred 
and  forty  years  before,  on  the  voyage  during  which  he  discovered  the 
continent  of  North  America.  The  London  Times,  which  had  spoken 
disparagingly  of  the  project,  said,  a  few  days  before  the  Sirius  sailed  : 

"  There  is  really  no  mistake  in  the  long-talked-of  project  of  navigating  the  Atlantic  by 
steam.  There  is  no  doubt  of  an  intention  to  make  the  attempt,  and  to  give  the  experi- 
ment, as  such,  a  fair  trial.    The  Sirius  is  absolutely  getting  under  weigh  for  America." 

Meanwhile  an  association  had  been  formed  in  London  called  the 
British  and  American  Steamship  Company.  They  built  the  Great 
Western,  which  was  launched  on  the  19th  of  July,  1837.  She  sailed 
for  New  York  early  in  April,  and  on  a  beautiful  morning  (the  23d)  of 
that  month  the  Great  Western  and  the  Sirius  both  entered  the  harbor 
of  New  York.  The  Sirius  arrived  very  early  in  the  morning,  the 
Great  Western  a  few  hours  later.  Their  arrival  created  intense  excite- 
ment, not  only  in  the  city  but  throughout  the  country.  The  New 
York  newspapers  were  full  of  glowing  notices  of  the  event.  One  of 
them  said  :  "  Myriads  of  persons  crowded  the  Battery  to  have  a 
glance  at  the  first  steam  vessel  which  has  crossed  the  Atlantic  from  the 
British  Isles  and  arrived  safely  in  port." 

Such  was  the  beginning  of  permanent  ocean  steain  navigation.  The 
voyage  had  been  made  by  the  Great  Western  in  eighteen  days.  ( )ther 
vessels  soon  followed.  In  less  than  twenty  years  there  were  fifteen 
lines  of  steamships  running  between  Europe  and  America,  numbering 
forty-six  ships  in  all,  of  which  thirty-seven  ran  out  of  New  York, 
making  the  trips  each  way  on  an  average  of  from  nine  to  twelve  days. 
At  that  time  fully  half  a  million  of  passengers  had  been  carried  across  the 
Atlantic  in  steamships,  of  whom  only  twelve  hundred  had  been  lost. 

The  most  successful  of  the  lines  then,  as  now,  was  that  established 
by  Samuel  Cunard  in  1840,  to  run  between  Liverpool  and  Boston  and 
New  York.  The  first  Cunard  steamship  (the  Britannic)  arrived  in 
Boston  on  July  18,  18-10.  In  the  year  ending  June  30,  1882,  4027 
ocean  steam  vessels  entered  the  ports  of  the  United  States,  having  an 
a<rin'e<rate  tonnage  of  8,520,027.    Of  these  vessels  1903,  with  a  ton- 

Do      O  O  '  7  ' 

nage  of  5,099,185,  entered  the  port  of  New  York. 


CHAPTER  XX. 


HE  beginning  of  permanent  ocean  steam  navigation  was  the 


-L  dawning  of  a  new  era  in  journalism  in  New  York— namely,  the 
employment  of  regular  foreign  correspondents.  This  had  been  done  to 
some  extent  before,  but  only  in  a  limited  and  desultory  manner. 
Robert  "Walsh  had  written  letters  for  the  Xational  Gazette  from 
Europe,  Nathaniel  Carter  for  the  Statesman,  X.  P.  "Willis  for  the  New 
York  Mirror,  James  Brooks  (who  established  the  New  York  Express 
newspaper  in  1836)  for  the  Portland  Advertiser,  in  which  he  gave 
sketches  and  incidents  of  travel  of  a  young  American  on  foot  in 
Europe  :  the  late  R.  Shelton  Mackenzie  (long  connected  with  the 
Philadelphia  7're.s.s)  with  gossipy  letters  from  London  for  Noah's 
Keen! in/  Star  and  Sunday  Times  -  but  no  organized  European  corre- 
spondence like  that  of  the  leading  journals  of  to-day  was  then  known. 

This  new  feature  in  journalism  was  introduced  in  1838  by  Mr. 
Bennett,  of  the  New  York  Herald.  He  took  passage  in  the  Sirius,  on 
her  return  trip  in  May,  to  make  extensive  arrangements  for  correspond- 
ence with  the  principal  political  and  commercial  centres  of  Europe. 
These,  and  indeed  Europe  itself,  were  not  then  known  in  detail  in 
America. 

With  the  advent  of  the  ocean  steamers  came  also  a  change,  as  we 
have  observed,  in  the  methods  of  obtaining  news  for  the  morning 
journals  of  New  York.  News-schooners,  that  put  out  to  sea  to  meet 
incoming  ships,  were  now  made  obsolete.  These  were  superseded  by 
swift  tow-boats  and  light  sail-boats.  These  would  meet  the  steamship 
below  Quarantine,  and  while  the  inspection  of  the  health  officer  was 
going  on  they  would  hurry  up  to  the  city  with  the  news,  and  have  it 
published  before  the  passengers  arrived.  On  these  occasions  the 
excitement  among  the  aquatic  news-gatherers  was  intense. 

About  the  middle  of  this  decade  an  abnormal  expansion  of  the  credit 
system  occurred,  which  speedily  bore  its  legitimate  fruit.  In  1833 
President  Jackson  began  a  deadly  warfare  against  the  United  States 
Bank,  because  he  knew  it  to  be  a  moneyed  institution  of  great  power, 
socially  and  politically,  and  therefore  possibly  dangerous  to  the  perma- 


FIRST  DECADE,  1S30-1840. 


369 


neiit  prosperity  of  the  country.  In  his  annual  message  to  Congress  in 
December,  1832,  he  recommended  that  body  to  authorize  the  removal 
from  that  institution  of  the  government  moneys  deposited  in  it,  and  to 
sell  the  stock  of  the  bank  owned  by  the  United  States  ;  in  a  word,  to 
decree  an  absolute  divorce  of  the  government  from  the  Bank.  Con- 
gress refused  to  do  so.  After  the  adjournment  of  that  body  the  Presi- 
dent took  the  responsibility  of  ordering  Mr.  Duane,  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  to  withdraw  the  public  funds  from  the  bank,  then 
amounting  to  about  $  10,000,000,  and  deposit  them  in  certain  State 
banks.  The  Secretary  refused  to  do  so,  and  he  was  dismissed  from 
office.  He  was  succeeded  by  Roger  B.  Taney,  who  was  afterward 
chief-justice  of  the  United  States.  He  was  then  attorney-general. 
Taney  was  ordered  to  remove  the  deposits,  and  he  obeyed  his 
superior. 

The  process  of  removal  began  in  October,  1833,  and  the  task  was 
completed  in  the  space  of  nine  months.  This  act  produced  great 
excitement  all  over  the  country,  and  much  commercial  distress.  The 
loans  of  the  bank  were  over  §60,000,000  when  the  work  of  removal 
began.  So  intricate  were  the  financial  relations  of  the  institution  with 
the  business  of  the  country,  that  when  the  funds  of  the  bank  were  thus 
paralysed  all  commercial  operations  felt  a  deadly  shock.  This  fact 
confirmed  the  President  in  his  suspicions  and  opinions  of  the  dangerous 
character  of  the  institution,  and  he  persistently  refused  to  listen  favor- 
ably to  all  prayers  for  a  modification  of  his  measures,  or  for  relief, 
made  by  numerous  deputations  of  manufacturers,  mechanics,  and  mer- 
chants who  waited  upon  him.  He  said  to  all  of  them,  in  substance  : 
"  The  government  can  give  no  relief  or  provide  a  remedy  ;  the  banks 
are  the  occasion  of  the  evils  which  exist,  and  those  who  have  suffered 
by  trading  largely  on  borrowed  capital  ought  to  break  ;  you  have  no 
one  to  blame  but  yourselves." 

The  State  banks  in  which  the  government  funds  had  been  deposited 
came  to  the  relief  of  the  business  community.  That  relief  was 
spasmodic,  and  resulted  in  more  serious  commercial  embarrassments. 
They  loaned  the  money  freely  ;  the  panic  subsided  ;  confidence  was 
gradually  restored,  and  there  was  an  appearance  of  general  prosperity. 
Speculation  was  stimulated  by  the  freedom  with  which  the  State 
banks  loaned  the  public  funds,  and  the  credit  system  was  enormously 
expanded.  It  Avas  upon  this  insecure  basis  that  New  York  merchants 
largely  resumed  active  business  after  the  great  fire  in  December,  1835. 
Trade  was  brisk  ;  the  shipping  interest  was  prosperous  ;  prices  ruled 
high  :  luxury  abounded,  and  nobody  seemed  to  perceive  the  dangerous 


370 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


undercurrent  that  was  surely  wasting  the  foundations  of  the  absurd 
credit  system  and  the  real  prosperity  of  the  city  and  nation. 

Suddenly  the  Ithuriel  spear  of  Necessity  pierced  the  great  bubble. 
A  failure  of  the  grain  crop  of  England  caused  a  large  demand  for  com 
to  pay  for  food  products  abroad.  The  Bank  of  England,  seeing  ex- 
changes running  higher  and  higher  against  that  country,  contracted  its 
loans  and  admonished  houses  who  were  giving  long  and  extensive 
credits  to  the  Americans  by  the  use  of  money  loaned  from  the  bank,  to 
curtail  that  hazardous  business. 

It  was  about  that  time  that  the  famous  Specie  Circular  was  issued 
from  the  Treasury  Department  of  the  United  States  Government.  It 
was  put  forth  in  July,  1836.  It  directed  all  collectors  of  the  public 
revenue  to  receive  nothing  but  com.  Thus  it  was  that  from  the  parlor 
of  the  Bank  of  England  and  from  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States 
went  out  almost  simultaneously  the  significant  fiat,  "  Pay  up  !" 
American  houses  in  London  failed  for  many  millions  of  dollars,  and  in 
1837  every  bank  in  the  United  States  suspended  specie  payments,  but 
resumed  again  within  two  years  afterward.  The  United  States  Bank 
iiad  been  rechartered  by  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania  ;  it  soon  fell 
into  hopeless  ruin,  and  with  it  went  a  very  large  number  of  the  Stale 
banks  of  the  country.  A  general  bankrupt  law  passed  in  1841  relieved 
of  debt  about  forty  thousand  persons,  whose  liabilities,  amounted  in  the 
aggregate  to  almost  $441,000,000. 

The  city  of  New  York  suffered  severely  from  the  terrible  business 
revulsion  of  1830-37.  Martin  Van  Buren  succeeded  Jackson  as  Presi 
dent  in  March,  1837.  During  the  two  months  succeeding  his  inaugu- 
ration there  were  mercantile  failures  in  the  city  of  New  York  to  the 
amount  of  more  than  8100,000,000.  The  panic  there  was  fearful. 
Two  hundred  and  fifty  mercantile  houses  had  been  compelled  to  suc- 
cumb in  the  month  of  April.  Every  business  man  and  every  moneyed 
institution  seemed  to  be  standing  on  an  insecure  foundation.  At  this 
crisis  a  deputation  from  the  merchants  and  bankers  of  New  York 
waited  on  the  President  and  petitioned  him  to  defer  the  collection  of 
duties  on  imported  goods,  suspend  the  operations  of  the  Specie  Circu- 
lar, and  call  an  extraordinary  session  of  Congress.  Their  prayer  was 
X'ejected.  When  this  fact  became  known  all  the  banks  in  New  York 
City  suspended  specie  payment.  That  event  occurred  on  the  10th  of 
May.  This  act  embarrassed  the  government,  for  it  could  not  get  coin 
wherewith  to  discharge  its  own  obligations.  In  this  dilemma  the 
President  was  induced  to  call  an  extraordinary  session  of  Congress, 
which  met  in  September.    It  did  very  little  toward  adopting  measure.; 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


371 


of  relief  except  to  authorize  the  issue  of  treasury  notes  to  an  amount 
not  exceeding  §10,000,000. 

The  banks  had  resolved  to  resume  specie  payments  w  ithin  one  year. 
On  the  day  of  the  suspension  there  was  a  large  meeting  of  business 
men  at  the  Exchange,  when  James  G.  King,  the  junior  partner  of  the 
banking-house  of  Prune,  Ward  &  King,  addressed  them,  and  offered 
resolutions  to  the  effect  that  the  paper  currency  should  be  recognized 
as  money  and  pass  as  usual  among  business  men  until  the  banks  should 
find  it  practicable  to  resume  specie  payments.  These  resolutions  were 
seconded  by  Mr.  Prime,  the  senior  of  that  banking-house,  and  they 
were  adopted  by  unanimous  vote.  This  measure  produced  a  feeling  of 
relief,  and  the  panic  gradually  subsided. 

In  October  Mr.  King  went  to  London  to  confer  with  the  officers  of 
the  Bank  of  England.  To  these  gentlemen  he  made  the  startling 
proposition  that  the  bank  and  the  great  capitalists  should  cease  embar- 
rassing American  merchants  by  discounting  paper  connected  with  the 
American  trade,  and  send  over  to  !New  York  at  once  a  large  amount  of 
coin.  The  officers  of  the  bank  hesitated.  Such  a  transaction  would 
be  wholly  foreign  to  the  business  policy  of  the  institution.  But  they 
finally  consented  to  send  several  million  dollars  in  coin,  on  the  sole 
responsibility  of  the  house  of  Prime,  Ward  tfc  King  and  the  guaranty  of 
Paring  Brothers,  of  Liverpool.  The  first  consignment  of  85,000,000 
was  forwarded  in  March,  183S.  This  coin  was  sold  on  easy  terms  to 
the  banks,  and  confidence  being  revived,  business  resumed  its  usual 
activity.  Another  large  meeting  of  merchants  and  others  had  been 
held,  which  pledged  the  business  community  to  stand  by  the  banks. 

During  the  winter  of  1830-37  there  were  abundant  signs  of  distress 
and  discontent  among  the  so-called  laboring  classes.  The  cereal  crops 
of  the  preceding  season  throughout  the  country  did  not  amount  to 
much  more  than  half  the  usual  yield,  and  flour  during  that  winter, 
which  was  one  of  unusual  severity,  was  from  812  to  $15  a  barrel. 

The  poor  suffered  much.  The  demagogues  of  the  political  factions 
improved  the  occasion  to  inflame  the  popular  mind,  one  party  trying 
to  increase  their  following  by  impressing  the  sufferers  with  the  idea 
that  the  rich  were  oppressing  the  poor  ;  that  the  high  price  of  food 
was  owing  to  the  greed  of  wealthy  monopolists.  At  a  meeting  held  in 
the  Broadway  Tabernacle  to  consider  and  act  upon  the  causes  of  the 
high  and  increasing  prices,  such  views  were  set  forth  by  some  of  the 
speakers,  though  these  harangues  Avere  not  absolutely  incendiary  in 
substance.  Nothing  of  importance  was  done.  Resolutions  were 
adopted,  but  nothing  practical  was  offered. 


372 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


There  was  another  class  of  men  at  that  time  who  attempted  to  make 
capital  for  the  cause  in  which  they  were  laboring.  These  were  the 
radical  temperance  advocates.  With  profound  ignorance,  apparently, 
of  the  fact  that  there  had  been  a  failure  of  the  cereal  crops,  they 
endeavored  to  impress  the  public  mind  with  a  belief  that  the  distillers 
were  making  grain  scarce  by  converting  the  rye  crop  into  whiskey  ! 

The  popular  discontent  reached  a  crisis  in  February,  1837.  On  the 
10th  of  that  month  a  notice  was  published  in  some  of  the  city  news- 
papers, and  in  placards  of  large  letters  and  conspicuously  posted 
throughout  the  city,  of  a  meeting  to  be  held  in  the  Park  on  the  after- 
noon of  February  13th.    The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  notice  : 


"  BREAD,  MEAT,  RENT,  FUEL  ! ! 

"their  prices  must  come  down  ! 

The  voice  of  the  People  will  be  heard,  and  must  prevail. 

"  $W  The  People  will  meet  in  the  Park,  rain  or  shine,  at 
4  o'clock  Monday  afternoon,  „JsFJ 

"  To  inquire  into  the  cause  of  the  present  unexampled  distress, 
and  to  devise  a  suitable  remedy.  All  friends  of  humanity, 
determined  to  resist  monopolists  and  extortionists,  are  invited 
to  attend. 

"  Moses  Jacques,  Daniel  Gorham, 

Paulus  Heddle,  John  Windt, 

Daniel  A.  Robertson,        Alexander  Ming,  Jr., 
Warden  Hay  ward,  Elijah  F.  Crane. 

"New  York,  Feb.  10,  1837." 


Obedient  to  this  significant  call,  fully  six  thousand  persons  assembled 
in  front  of  the  City  Hall  at  the  appointed  hour.  It  was  a  cold  and 
bleak  winter  day.  The  great  mass  of  human  beings  presented  repre- 
sentatives of  almost  every  class  and  nationality  in  the  city — very 
largely  of  the  classes  which  are  readily  converted  into  a  mob  when 
their  passions  are  excited.  Moses  Jacques  was  chosen  chairman. 
They  did  not  lack  appeals  to  their  passions  on  this  occasion,  for  the 
multitude  were  soon  gathered  in  different  groups  listening  to  numerous 
speakers,  the  most  distinguished  of  whom  was  Alexander  Ming,  Jr.,  a 
well-known  and  active  politician  of  the  Loco-Foco  school  in  New  York 
Gity  for  several  years. 

The  burden  of  each  orator's  discourse  consisted  chiefly  of  denuncia- 
tion of  the  rich,  especially  of  landlords  and  the  holders  of  large  quanti- 
ties of  provisions,  particularly  of  flour. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


373 


The  popular  indignation  was  chiefly  directed  against  the  firm,  of  Eli 
Hart  tfc  Co.,  extensive  commission  merchants,  whose  store  was  a  large 
brick  building  on  Washington  Street,  between  Dey  and  Cortlandt 
streets.  It  had  three  wide  and  strong  iron  doors  upon  the  street. 
This  store  was  full  of  flour  and  wheat,  and  knots  of  men  were  seen  to 
stop  opposite  and  gaze  at  it  with  furtive  glances,  and  sometimes  utter- 
ing angry  words.  Sometimes  men  would  be  heard  muttering  curses  as 
they  passed.  The  friends  of  Mr.  Hart  tried  to  persuade  him  to  take 
precautionary  measures  for  protection,  but  he  could  not  listen  to  them 
with  patience.  He  saw  these  signs  of  a  gathering  storm,  but  believed, 
or  professed  to  believe,  they  indicated  nothing  very  serious,  and  he 
and  Ins  partners  remained  tranquil  while  their  friends  were  alarmed. 

One  day  an  anonymous  letter  addressed  to  a  well-known  citizen  was 
picked  up  in  the  Park,  in  which  the  writer  said  a  conspiracy  was 
matured  for  sacking  the  store  of  Hart  &  Co.  on  some  dark  night.  The 
plan,  he  said,  was  to  start  two  alarms  of  fire  simultaneously,  one  at  the 
Battery  and  the  other  in  Bleecker  Street,  and  while  the  watchmen  and 
firemen  would  be  attracted  to  these  distant  points,  a  large  body  of  men 
with  sledges  and  crowbars  would  rush  upon  the  store,  break  in  the 
doors,  and  rifle  it  before  the  guardians  of  the  peace  could  arrive.  This 
letter  was  handed  to  the  famous  high  constable,  Jacob  Hays,  who 
showed  it  to  Hart  &  Co. ;  but  they  regarded  it  as  an  attempt  to 
frighten  them. 

The  gathering  in  the  Park  on  the  10th  of  February  was  not  an 
anonymous  warning.  It  was  an  ominous  notice  of  danger,  not  only  to 
Hart  &  Co.,  but  to  the  peace  of  the  city.  Mr.  Hart  attended  the 
meeting.  The  utterances  of  the  several  speakers  on  that  occasion  were 
inflammatory  in  the  extreme,  excepting  that  of  Ming,  who  was  then  a 
candidate  for  the  office  of  city  register.  He  seemed  to  think  it  was  a 
rare  chance  to  win  votes,  and  he  devoted  his  soul  and  body  on  that 
occasion  to  the  subject  of  the  currency.  He  was  a  radical  hard-money 
Democrat — Loco-Foco  pure  and  spotless.  He  harangued  the  illiterate 
and  half-brutish  mob  before  him  on  the  evils  produced  by  paper  cur- 
rency. Indeed  it  was  recognized  as  the  chief  cause  of  all  the  distress 
that  was  prevailing  among  his  hearers.  With  grim  satire  he  advised 
the  shivering  mnx-<-ul<>tt<'x  to  refuse  any  paper  dollar  that  might  be 
offered  them,  and  to  receive  nothing  but  gold  and  silver,  well  knowing 
the  hopelessness  of  a  large  part  of  his  audience  receiving  the  offer  of  a 
dollar  of  any  kind.  The  motley  multitude  were  so  charmed  with  his 
disquisition  on  the  currency  that  they  seemed  to  forget  all  about 
"  Bread,  meat,  rent,  and  fuel,"  which  they  had  been  called  together  to 


374 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


consider,  and  when  he  offered  a  resolution  proposing  a  memorial  to  the 
Legislature  to  forbid  any  bank  issuing  a  note  for  any  sum  under  slim, 
it  was  carried  by  a  wild  shout  of  affirmation  that  shook  the  windows  of 
the  City  Hall.  To  show  their  appreciation  of  Ming's  logic,  the  "  sov- 
ereign people"  whom  he  had  eulogized  seized  the  orator,  hoisted  him 
upon  their  shoulders,  and  bore  him  in  triumph  across  the  wide  way  to 
Tammany  Hall,  where  they  were  undoubtedly  rewarded  with  the 
enjoyment  of  spirituous  blessings  poured  out  in  abundance. 

The  speeches  of  others  were  more  to  the  point  at  issue.  One  of 
them,  who  had  worked  up  the  feelings  of  his  hearers  to  the  highest 
pitch,  exclaimed  : 

"  Fellow-citizens,  Eli  Hart  &  Co.  have  now  fifty-three  thousand 
barrels  of  flour  in  their  store  ;  let  us  go  and  offer  them  $8  a  barrel  for 
it,  and  if  they  do  not  accept  it — " 

Here  some  more  judicious  or  more  cautious  person,  seeing  the  mayor 
and  many  policemen  near,  touched  the  speaker  on  the  shoulder,  and 
whispered  in  his  ear.  He  at  once  concluded  his  harangue,  saying,  in  a 
lower  tone  of  voice,  "  If  they  will  not  accept  it — we  will  depart  in 
peace." 

The  hint  he  had  given  produced  the  desired  effect.  The  great  crowd 
at  once  began  to  dissolve,  when  those  who  had  heard  the  speech  alluded 
to  started  off  in  a  body  in  the  direction  of  the  store  of  Eli  Hart  &  Co. 
They  rushed  down  Broadway  to  Dey  Street,  increasing  in  number  and 
excitement  every  moment,  so  that  when  they  reached  "Washington 
Street  they  had  become  a  roaring  moh. 

Hearing  the  tumult  of  the  on-coming  multitude,  the  clerks  in  the 
store  hastened  to  close  and  bar  the  doors  and  windows.  But  the  van 
of  the  mob  was  upon  them  before  they  could  sufficiently  secure  one  of 
the  heavy  iron  front  doors,  and  the  mob  rushed  in  and  began  roll- 
ing barrels  of  Hour  into  the  street  and  staving  in  the  heads.  When 
they  had  thus  destroyed  about  thirty  barrels,  some  police  officers 
arrived  and  drove  out  the  plunderers. 

Mr.  Hart,  who  was  at  the  meeting,  as  has  been  observed,  when  he 
saw  the  crowd  rushing  in  the  direction  of  his  store,  hastily  gathered 
some  policemen  and  started  for  his  menaced  castle.  In  Dey  Street  the 
mob  fiercely  attacked  the  guardians  of  the  law  and  disarmed  them  of 
their  clubs.  The  policemen,  however,  made  their  way  into  Washing- 
ton Street  before  the  great  mass  of  the  rioters  had  arrived  there,  and 
entered  the  besieged  store  and  drove  out  the  marauders. 

Mayor  Lawrence,  informed  of  the  mob  at  Hart  &  Co.'s  store, 
hastened  to  the  scene.    He  mounted  a  flight  of  steps  opposite  and 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


373 


began  to  remonstrate  with  the  rioters  on  the  crime  and  folly  and  the 
consequences  of  their  acts.  His  words  were  in  vain.  Every  moment 
the  numbers  of  the  mob  increased  by  accessions  from  the  dissolving 
crowd  in  the  Park,  and  the  mayor  was  answered  by  a  shower  of  mis- 
siles— bricks,  stones,  sticks,  and  pieces  of  ice — so  copious  that  he  was 
compelled  to  retire  to  a  place  of  safety.  The  mob  was  now  unre- 
strained by  law  or  reason.  They  made  a  rush  for  one  of  the  ponderous 
iron  doors,  which  was  speedily  wrenched  from  its  hinges.  Using  it  as 
a  battering  power,  they  soon  beat  down  the  other  doors,  when  the 
rioters  rushed  in  in  great  numbers.  The  clerks  fled,  and  violence 
reigned  supreme.  The  doors  in  the  upper  lofts  were  torn  down,  the 
windows  were  broken  in,  and  when  hundreds  of  barrels  of  flour  had 
been  rolled  into  the  street  from  the  lower  floor  and  destroyed,  they 
were  hoisted  upon  the  window-sills  above  and  dashed  to  pieces  on  the 
ground.  Sack  after  sack  of  wheat  was  also  destroyed.  At  one  of  the 
windows  a  half-grown  boy  was  seen,  exclaiming,  as  each  barrel  was 
tumbled  into  the  street,  "  Here  goes  flour  at  eight  dollars  a  barrel  !" 
For  this  crime  he  suffered  several  years'  hard  labor  in  the  State  Prison 
at  Sinff  Sin"1. 

A  larger  portion  of  the  mob  were  of  foreign  birth,  yet  there  were 
hundreds  of  spectators  who  were  native-born  citizens  that  gave  the 
rioters  encouragement  and  aid.  When  the  disturbance  was  at  its 
height,  at  twilight,  there  was  observed  a  strange  feature  in  the  scene. 
Scores  of  women  were  perceived,  many  of  them  bareheaded  and  in 
tattered  garments,  rushing  here  and  there  with  eager  zeal,  like  camp- 
followers  after  a  battle,  to  secure  a  share  of  the  plunder  so  prodigally 
presented  to  them.  They  appeared  with  boxes,  pails,  sacks,  baskets, 
and  everything  that  would  carry  flour,  and  with  their  aprons  full  of 
the  same  bore  away  large  quantities  to  their  squalid  homes.  It  was 
the  only  bright  picture  in  the  terrible  scene — these  mothers  gathering 
food  for  their  starving  children,  notwithstanding  it  had  been  furnished 
them  by  the  hand  of  violence. 

"When  night  had  fairly  set  in,  the  rioters,  who  were  yet  in  full  force, 
were  suddenly  alarmed  and  scattered  by  the  appearance  of  the 
National  Guard,  under  Colonel  Morgan  L.  Smith,  and  other  military 
forces  which  the  mayor  had  summoned  to  the  aid  of  the  police.  Their 
services,  however,  were  needed  only  as  a  restraining  power.  The  mob 
quickly  dispersed  on  their  appearance,  after  having  destroyed  all  the 
boohs  and  papers  in  Hart  &  Co.'s  counting-room.  The  police,  so  sus- 
tained, arrested  a  number  of  the  rioters  and  took  them  to  the  Bridewell, 
in  the  Park,  but  were  assailed  on  the  way  by  some  of  the  mob.  The 


376 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


chief  of  police  had  his  coat  torn  off  by  the  mob,  who  rescued  several 
of  the  prisoners.  The  store  was  closed,  and  order  again  reigned  in 
that  neighborhood. 

As  the  cowardly  mob  at  Hart  &  Co.'s  store  were  about  to  fly,  some 
one  cried  out  "  Meech's  !"  when  a  body  of  the  rioters  rushed  across 
the  town  to  assail  the  large  flour  establishment  of  Meech  &  Co. ,  at 
Coenties  Slip.  On  the  way  they  began  an  attack  upon  the  flour  store 
of  S.  H.  Ilernck  &  Co.  They  had  broken  in  the  windows  with  mis- 
siles, forced  open  the  doors,  and  had  rolled  about  thirty  barrels  of  flour 
into  the  street  and  destroyed  it,  when  a  body  of  police  and  a  large 
number  of  citizens  who  had  volunteered  their  services  dispersed  the 
rioters  and  arrested  some  of  the  mob.  The  ringleaders,  as  usual, 
taking  precious  care  of  their  own  persons,  escaped. 

About  one  thousand  bushels  of  wheat  and  six  hundred  barrels  of 
flour  were  wantonly  destroyed  by  this  senseless  mob.  The  scarcity  of 
Hour  was,  of  course,  made  scarcer  by  this  destruction,  and  the  distress 
of  the  poor  was  thus  aggravated.  The  stock  of  flour  being  thus 
reduced,  the  price  naturally  advanced,  and  fifty  cents  a  barrel  more 
was  asked  than  before  the  riot.  Hart  &  Co.  estimated  the  value  of 
their  property  destroyed  by  the  mob  at  si 0,0110.  which,  of  course,  the 
city  was  compelled  to  pay  them. 

About  forty  of  the  rioters  were  captured,  afterward  indicted,  and 
sent  to  the  State  Prison  at  Sing  Sing,  but  not  one  of  the  ringleaders 
was  punished.  It  is  said  that  so  strong  was  the  influence  of  politicians 
brought  to  bear  upon  the  ministers  of  the  law  that  not  one  of  the 
persons  who  signed  the  significant  call  for  the  meeting  in  the  Park, 
or  of  the  several  orators  who  incited  the  mob.  was  arrested  ! 

Another  meeting  of  citizens  was  held  in  the  Park  on  the  6th  of 
March  following.  Apprehending  a  repetition  of  the  disturbances  in 
l  t  l iruarv,  the  city  authorities  directed  some  of  the  city  military  to  be 
in  readiness  to  suppress  any  outbreak.  Tin1  National  Guard  were 
under  arms  during  the  afternoon,  but  the  meeting  in  the  Park  passing 
off  quietly  their  services  were  not  needed. 

This  was  the  last  exciting  scene  in  the  way  of  real  and  anticipated 
disturbances  of  the  public  peace  which  had  made  the  administration  of 
Mavor  Lawrence  a  troublous  one,  beginning  with  the  Abolition  Riot  in 
July,  1835,  and  ending  with  the  Flour  Riot  in  1S3T.  A  few  weeks 
after  the  latter  event  he  was  succeeded  in  office  by  Aaron  Clarke. 

In  May  following  the  National  Guard  was  again  called  out  for  the 
suppression  of  a  possible  riot.  On  the  9th  of  that  month  the  banks  of 
the  city  resolved  to  suspend  specie  payments.    For  some  weeks  the  air 


FIRST  DECADE.  1830-1840. 


377 


had  been  filled  with  flying  rumors  of  a  conspiracy  brewing  for  a  con- 
certed attack  upon  the  banks  for  the  purpose  of  robbing  them.  How 
far  the  incendiary  harangues  of  political  demagogues  at  meetings  had 
incited  hostility  to  the  moneyed  institutions  of  the  city  nobody  knew. 
Precautionary  measures  were  thought  necessary,  for  the  public  an- 
nouncement of  the  suspension  of  specie  payments  by  the  banks  in  the 
newspapers  the  next  morning  might  produce  an  exasperation  among 
the  ignorant  classes  which  might  lead  to  deeds  of  violence.  So  the 
National  Guard  were  requested  to  assemble  in  the  Park  at  seven 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  10th. 

The  announcement  of  the  action  of  the  banks  did  produce  much 
excitement.  Ignorant  or  timid  depositors  rushed  to  these  institutions 
to  withdraw  their  funds.  At  ten  o'clock  Wall  Street  was  thronged 
with  an  excited  multitude,  but  there  were  no  symptoms  of  any  violent 
or  riotous  spirit  on  the  part  of  the  populace.  The  National  Guard  had 
paraded  in  the  Park  at  the  appointed  hour.  The  day  wore  away  with- 
out any  signs  of  impending  disturbance.  The  crowds  in  Wall  Street 
gradually  dispersed,  and  the  military  retired  to  their  homes. 

The  Twenty-seventh  Regiment  (National  Guard)  now  felt  that  they 
were  entitled  to  some  special  consideration  at  the  hands  of  the  city 
Miithorities  on  account  of  their  frequently  rendered  services  at  the  call 
of  the  mayor  as  conservators  of  the  peace  and  order  and  for  the 
security  of  property  in  the  city.  The  Second  Company,  the  feeblest  in 
numbers,  first  moved  in  the  matter.  They  thought  the  city  ought  to 
furnish  the  National  Guard  with  drill-rooms,  and  so  relieve  the  latter 
of  considerable  expense.  Accordingly  at  a  meeting  of  the  company  in 
August,  1837,  a  committee  were  appointed  to  petition  the  common 
council  on  the  subject.  They  asked  for  a  suitable  hall.  The  petition 
was  favorably  received,  and  the  apartments  in  the  second  story  of 
Centre  Market  were  assigned  as  drill-rooms.  This  furnished  a  pre- 
cedent for  the  future,  and  to  this  movement  of  the  Second  Company  is 
due  the  honor  of  providing  for  the  use  of  the  militia  of  New  York 
City  such  elegant  accommodations  as  they  now  enjoy.  It  was  the 
initial  step  toward  securing  for  the  Seventh  Regiment  National  Guard 
(the  old  Twenty-seventh)  the  magnificent  armory  situated  on  Fifth 
Avenue,  the  most  expensive,  luxurious,  and  elegant  military  quarters 
in  the  world. 

The  express  business,  now  so  extensive,  profitable,  and  useful,  had 
its  origin  in  the  city  of  New  York  in  1837.  In  that  year  James  W. 
Hale,  yet  (1883)  living,  one  of  the  most  active  men  of  his  day,  was 
conducting  an  admirable  news-room — a  sort  of  Lloyds  for  the  shipping 


378 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


interest  of  Xew  York — in  the  old  Tontine  Coffee-House,  at  the  corner 
of  Wall  and  Water  streets.  Hale  was  a  genial,  talkative,  sensible, 
and  kind-hearted  man,  ready  to  help  those  who  needed  help,  and 
was  popular  with  everybody,  especially  all  business  men,  who  were 
attracted  to  his  news-room  in  great  numbers  for  general  information 
about  commerce,  trade,  stocks,  etc.  That  was  before  the  telegraph 
was  known,  and  before  railways  were  much  used  in  conveying  letters 
;ind  newspapers. 

Up  to  nearly  that  time  the  newspapers  bad  to  rely  chiefly  upon  the 
old  stages  or  post-riders  for  transportation,  and  the  transmission  of 
news  from  point  to  point  was  tardily  performed  in  comparison  with 
the  swift  passages  made  by  them  now.  So  late  as  1834,  when  trains 
were  run  by  steam  on  a  railway  between  Charleston  and  Hamburg,  on 
the  Savannah  River,  the  directors  of  the  road  advertised  that  the  com- 
pany then  sent  one  train  daily  between  these  two  points,  one  hundred 
and  thirty-six  miles,  in  twelve  hours,  and  "  that  in  the  daytime. "  They 
added  :  "  The  daily  papers  of  this  city  [Charleston]  are  sent  by  this 
conveyance,  but  merchants'  letters,  of  the  utmost  importance  to  them 
in  business,  are  not  less  than  two  days  going  ;  under  contract."  The 
government  was  slow  in  recognizing  the  importance  of  rapid  transit  in 
those  days  ;  and,  though  quite  rapid  communication  between  Xew 
York  and  Boston  by  steamboat  and  railway  had  been  opened  in 
1835-36,  business  men  lacked  public  facilities  in  transmitting  letters 
and  packages  between  the  two  cities.    This  want  was  soon  supplied. 

One  pleasant  morning  early  in  the  summer  of  1S37,  a  young  man 
about  twenty-five  years  of  age  entered  the  office  of  Mr.  Hale  in  rather 
a  dejected  mood.  He  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  was  seeking  em- 
ployment, and  had  called  on  Mr.  Hale  for  advice  how  to  obtain  work. 
It  was  a  season  of  great  depression  in  all  kinds  of  business.  The  young 
man  was  rather  delicate,  even  fragile  in  physical  composition,  yet  he 
seemed  to  possess  ambition  and  an  energy  of  character  that  interested 
Mr.  Hale.  He  inquired  his  name  and  his  antecedents.  His  name  was 
William  F.  Harnden,  and  his  antecedents  were  satisfactory. 

In  the  course  of  a  few  days,  when  young  Harnden  made  his  usual 
morning  call  and  anxious  inquiries,  Hale  suggested  to  him  a  new  busi- 
ness, fitted,  he  supposed,  to  his  physical  strength.  Nearly  every  day 
Hale  was  asked  by  bankers,  brokers,  and  merchants  if  he  knew  of  any 
one  going  to  Boston  from  Xew  York  in  whose  hands  they  might  in- 
trust small  packages.  This  want  of  a  messenger  was  continually  grow- 
ing. The  postage  on  letters  was  then  very  heavy,  and  packages,  even 
small  ones,  could  only  be  sent  as  freight  —  a  slow  process.  Hale 


FIRST  DECADE.  1830-1840. 


379 


thought  the  matter  over  carefully,  and  one  morning  when  young 
Hamden  came  in  with  anxious  looks,  he  said  to  the  youth  in  his  pleas- 
ant manner  : 

••  Hamden,  I  think  I  can  put  you  in  the  way  of  employing  yourself 
in  business.  If  you  will  travel  between  New  York  and  Boston  on  the 
steamboat,  and  do  errands  for  business  men  in  both  places,' charging  a 
fair  remuneration  for  your  services,  it  will  pay." 

"  I  will  try  it,"  said  Hamden  cheerily.  "  How  shall  I  get  the  busi- 
ness to  do  ?" 

"I'll  help  you,"  said  Hale. 

And  so  he  did,  most  effectually.  To  all  inquirers  about  carriers,  he 
directed  merchants,  bankers,  and  brokers  to  young  Hamden,  who  hung 
up  a  slate  in  Hale's  news-room  for  orders.  In  the  course  of  a  week  he 
started  on  his  new  business,  which,  at  the  suggestion  of  his  good  friend 
and  adviser,  he  called  "  The  Express,"  the  term  used  for  the  fastest 
railway  trains,  and  which  had  been  in  use  scores  of  years  to  designate 
the  character  of  a  special  messenger. 

Hamden  started  in  his  new  business  Avith  a  single  carpet-bag.  The 
older  business  men  were  at  hist  slow  to  perceive  the  advantages  they 
might  derive  from  his  services,  and  discouragement  met  him  at  the 
outset.  His  steamboat  expenses  for  passage  and  meals  were  consider- 
able, and  at  the  end  of  two  months  his  little  store  of  money  was  ex- 
hausted, for  his  expenses  had  exceeded  his  receipts.  He  was  about  to 
abandon  the  enterprise  when  some  friends  procured  for  him  free  pas- 
sage on  the  steamboat. 

This  "  subsidy"  was  the  important  point  on  which  his  fortune 
turned.  His  business  became  more  and  more  popular  and  profitable, 
and  it  was  not  long  before  his  single  carpet-bag  became  too  small  for 
his  rapidly  increasing  business.  Two,  three,  and  four  bags  were  added 
to  his  means  of  transportation,  and  finally  he  bought  and  used  a  large 
hair-covered  trunk,  which  bore  on  each  end,  in  strong  brass-headed 
nails,  the  words,  "  Harnoen's  Express." 

As  the  labor  of  the  business  increased,  Hamden  disposed  of  a  part  of 
his  business  to  an  assistant  in  Boston,  and  a  small  office  was  opened  in 
both  cities.  Very  soon  they  were  enabled  to  employ  a  man  as  express 
messenger  on  both  the  morning  and  evening  steamboats,  to  take  charge 
of  articles  sent  in  hand-crates. 

"When  poor  overworked  Hamden  saw  twenty  dollars  saved  in  one 
day,  bright  visions  of  a  speedily  won  fortune  stimulated  his  ambition  to 
do  more.  He  began  to  consider  the  advantages  and  profits  of  land 
routes,  and  very  soon  he  established  a  line  between  Boston  and  Albany, 


380 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


and  met  with  success.  The  Cunard  steamships  gave  him  much  busi- 
ness between  Boston  and  New  York,  and  he  conceived  a  project  for 
organizing  a  system  of  emigration.  There  was  no  established  means 
to  enable  emigrants  who  had  settled  in  the  United  States  to  remit 
money  to  their  brood  "  at  home,1'  or  prepay  the  passage  of  those  who 
wished  to  come  to  America,  llarnden  attempted  to  supply  this  want. 
In  the  year  1841  he  established  a  system  of  communication  which  he 
called  "  The  English  and  Continental  Express,"  with  offices  in  Liver- 
pool, London,  and  Paris,  and  branches  in  other  parts  of  the  continent 
and  Great  Britain.  lie  also  made  arrangements  for  the  cheap  convey- 
ance of  emigrants  from  Liverpool  in  sailing  vessels,  and  chartered  a 
considerable  fleet  of  Erie  canal-boats  to  carry  them  and  their  effects  to 
"  the  West,"  which  then  meant  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan,  and 
Wisconsin. 

At  the  end  of  about  three  years  from  the  establishment  of  this  emi- 
gration system,  this  small,  fragile,  energetic  man  had  been  instrumental 
in  bringing  to  the  United  States  more  than  one  hundred  thousand 
laborers,  and  so  adding  many  millions  of  dollars  to  the  national  wealth. 
But  he  had  impoverished  himself,  and  was  dying  with  consumption. 
In  1845  be  died,  comparatively  a  poor  man,  only  thirty-three  years  of 
age.  But  his  name  is  immortal  as  the  founder  of  the  great  express 
business,  in  which  his  successors  have  accumulated  immense  fortunes. 

When  it  was  perceived  that  Barnden's  express  business  was  success- 
ful, Alvin  Adams,  a  native  of  Windsor,  Vermont,  then  a  man  between 
thirty-live  and  forty  years  of  age,  entered  into  the  business.  He  had 
been  encaged  in  business  in  Boston  and  St.  Louis,  and  finallv  in  1840 
he  began  an  opposition  to  Harnden's  Express  between  New  York  and 
Boston.  For  a  long  time  he  struggled  against  great  discouragements. 
His  pockets  would  almost  hold  the  packages  daily  intrusted  to  his  care, 
and  a  dollar  carpet-bag  was  his  chief  vehicle  for  transportation  for  a 
lonsr  time.  llarnden  became  so  engrossed  in  his  emigration  scheme 
that  he  lost  much  of  his  express  business,  which  Adams,  with  great 
sagacity,  found  and  profited  by.  Prosperity  followed.  He  first  asso- 
ciated with  himself  in  the  business  E.  Famsworth,  and  afterward 
"William  B.  Dinsmore,  who  took  charge  of  the  Xew  York  office.  In 
ten  years  the  business  had  so  increased  that  Adams  &  Co.  paid  #1700  a 
month  for  a  small  space  in  a  car  of  a  fast  railway  train  running  be- 
tween Xew  York  and  New  Haven,  for  the  conveyance  of  money  and 
small  packages.  Mr.  Adams  died  in  1877,  when  Mr.  Dinsmore  became 
president  of  the  company,  and  now  (1883)  occupies  that  position. 

The  Adams  Express  Company  is  a  very  wealthy  corporation,  and  is 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


381 


a  leader  in  the  express  business  in  this  country.  In  1849  Mr.  Adams 
established  an  overland  express  to  California,  to  meet  the  wants  of  tlie 
great  army  of  gold-seekers  who  had  flocked  into  that  region  in  search 
of  the  newly  discovered  precious  metals  there.  In  time  he  opened  a 
banking-house  in  connection  with  the  express  business  at  all  the  princi- 
pal points  in  that  State,  thus  enabling  miners  and  others  to  send  home 
to  the  East  their  gold  and  letters.  After  that  he  started  an  express  for 
Australia.    It  was  unprofitable,  and  was  soon  abandoned. 

The  company  rendered  great  assistance  to  the  government  during 
the  late  Civil  War,  quickly  transporting  war  munitions  to  different 
exposed  points.  Their  agents  often  received  money  from  the  soldiers 
when  paid  off  in  the  field  and  on  the  eve  of  battle,  and  delivered  it  to 
their  families  or  friends  at  home.  These  agents  were  always  furnished 
with  a  competent  escort,  with  three  safes,  to  points  of  general  distribu- 
tion of  their  contents.  As  the  national  armies  closed  in  upon  the  terri- 
tories wherein  insurrection  and  rebellion  existed,  these  agents  followed 
closely,  and  reopened  their  express  offices  in  the  Southern  States.* 

Meanwhile  Livingston,  "Wells  &  Co.  's  express  had  been  established. 
They  carried  letters  in  opposition  to  the  government.  Wells  had  been 
Ilarnden's  agent  at  Albany.  lie  first  extended  the  business  to  Buffalo, 
and  thence  westward.  The  first  line  extended  beyond  that  city  was 
that  of  Wells,  Fargo  &  Dunning.  In  1S4S  John  Butterfield  established 
an  express,  and  was  soon  joined  by  Mr.  AVasson.  In  1850  the  compa- 
nies of  "Wells,  Far^o  <k  Dunning  and  Butterfield  &  Wasson  were  con- 

*  Alvin  Adams  was  born  at  Windsor,  Vermont,  on  June  16,  1804.  His  j>arents  both 
died  when  he  was  about  eight  years  of  age,  and  Alvin  lived  with  his  oldest  brother  on 
the  farm  which  was  their  patrimony  until  he  was  sixteen  .years  of  age.  Then  he  began 
to  desire  a  broader  sight  of  the  social  world,  and  went  to  Woodstock,  the  capital  of 
Windsor  County.  Here  he  engaged  himself  to  the  principal  tavern-keeper  in  the  town, 
who  owned  a  line  of  stages  that  ran  between  that  place  and  Concord,  N.  H.  With  this 
publican  Alvin  stayed  about  five  years,  and  then  went  to  Boston,  where,  after  trying 
several  employments,  he  started  in  business  for  himself  as  a  produce  commission  mer- 
chant. In  1837  he  discontinued  that  business,  went  to  New  York  and  thence  to 
St.  Louis,  but  soon  returned  from  the  latter  place.  In  May,  1840,  he  started  in  the 
express  business,  as  mentioned  in  the  text,  and  was  wonderfully  successful.  His  chief 
characteristics  were  energy  and  a  preference  for  things  of  magnitude.  His  moral  charac- 
ter was  unblemished,  and  his  honor  and  probity  were  proverbial.  Mr.  Adams  died  at  his 
home  in  Watertown,  Mass.,  September  1,  1877,  at  the  age  of  about  seventy-three  years. 
He  married  Miss  Anne  R.  Bridge,  of  Boston,  and  left  a  widow,  two  sons,  and  a  daughter. 

In  addition  to  his  rich  moral  qualities,  Mr.  Adams  was  endowed  with  a  genial  disposi- 
tion and  a  capacity  of  pleasing  all  with  whom  he  became  acquainted. 

One  of  the  earliest  and  most  efficient  pioneers  in  the  express  business  was  Edward  S. 
Sanford,  who  died  in  1882.  He  was  for  over  forty  years  prominently  identified  with  the 
management  of  the  Adams  Express  Company. 


382 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


solidated.  By  the  union  of  the  three  companies  above  named  the 
American  Express  Company  was  formed,  which  soon  became  a  power- 
ful rival  of  the  Adams  Express  Company.  These  two  associations  are 
now  the  leading  express  companies  in  the  world. 

It  was  estimated  at  the  time  of  the  establishment  of  the  American 
Express  Company  (about  1S50)  that  the  aggregate  express  agents  trav- 
elled in  the  discharge  of  their  duties  30,000  miles  a  day.  In  1882  they 
travelled  about  405,000  miles  a  day,  over  nearly  80,000  miles  of  road. 
The  aggregate  companies  then  employed  about  22,000  men  and  over 
4000  horses,  and  had  fully  10,000  business  offices.  They  employ  in  the 
business  nearly  $30,000,000. 

This  is  the  product  in  less  than  fifty  years  of  the  small  seed,  "  like  a 
grain  of  mustard  seed,"  planted  in  James  W.  Hale's  news-room  in 
Wall  Street  by  William  F.  Ilarnden,  in  the  form  of  a  small  carpet-bag 
and  a  capital  of  $10.  The  city  of  New  York,  where  the  express 
business  originated,  has  continued  to  be  the  focal  point  of  the  business. 
From  it  nearly  or  quite  all  the  express  lines  radiate  as  from  a  common 
centre  of  impulse.  There  are  eleven  foreign  expresses  emanating  from 
New  York.  There  are  also  two  domestic  expresses  in  the  city,  that 
of  Dodd  (X.  Y.  Transfer  Co.)  and  Westcott's  Express  Company.  The 
value  of  the  express  system  to  the  city  is  simply  incalculable. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


SIMULTANEOUSLY  with  the  beginning  of  the  express  system, 
which  so  greatly  increased  the  facilities  for  exchanges  of  every 
kind,  appeared  the  dawn  of  the  era  of  the  electro-magnetic  telegraph 
system,  which  has  superseded  and  far  outstripped  the  steamboat,  the 
railway,  and  the  express  systems  in  the  interchange  of  thought  and  the 
diffusion  of  knowledge  throughout  the  civilized  world. 

Although  for  nearly  forty  years  men  have  been  so  familiar  with  the 
operations  of  this  mighty  motor  that  it  is  commonplace  to  the  common 
mind,  yet  to-day,  to  the  apprehension  of  profound  thinkers  and  skilled 
scientists,  this  invisible  agent,  in  its  essence  and  origin,  is  an  undiscov- 
ered and  apparently  undiscoverable  mystery  which  human  ken  may  not 
fathom,  nor  of  which  human  imagination  may  conceive  a  theory. 

In  our  profound  ignorance  we  may  with  reverence  regard  it  as  did 
Pope,  who,  in  speaking  of  the  universe,  said  of  creation  : 

"  Whose  body  Nature  is,  and  God  the  soul "  ; 

and  then,  with  dim  discernment  of  the  truth,  thus  spoke  of  its  manifes- 
tation to  man  : 

"  Warms  in  the  sun,  refreshes  in  the  breeze  ; 
Glows  in  the  stars,  and  blossoms  in  the  trees  ; 
It  lives  through  all  life,  extends  through  all  extent  ; 
Spreads  undivided,  operates  unspent." 

It  was  early  in  the  year  1838  that  Samuel  Finley  Breese  Morse,*  a 

*  Samuel  Finley  Breese  Morse,  LL.D.,  was  a  son  of  the  Rev.  Jedediah  Morse,  and  was 
born  in  Charlestown,  Mass.,  April  27,  1791.  He  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1810,  and 
went  to  England  the  next  year,  where  he  studied  the  art  of  painting  under  Benjamin 
West.  On  his  return  in  1815  he  practised  the  art,  chiefly  in  the  line  of  portrait  painting, 
in  Boston,  Charlestown,  and  New  York.  In  the  latter  city  he  became  the  chief  founder 
of  the  National  Academy  of  the  Arts  of  Design,  in  1826.  He  went  to  Europe  in  1829,  and 
remained  until  1832.  While  abroad  he  was  elected  professor  of  the  literature  of  the  arts 
of  design  in  the  new  University  of  the  City  of  New  York.  He  had  been  a  close  student 
of  chemical  science,  and  had  been  interested  in  electrical  experiments  in  France.  While 
voyaging  home  in  1832  he  conceived  the  idea  of  an  electro-magnetic  recording  telegraph, 
which,  as  is  seen  in  the  text,  he  afterward  perfected.  This  subject  absorbed  his  atten- 
tion largely  during  the  remainder  of  his  life.    Yet  from  1832  until  about  1838  he  was 


384 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


portrait  and  historical  painter  of  rare  merit,  and  then  professor  of  the 
literature  of  the  arts  of  design  in  the  University  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  lirst  made  a  partially  public  exhibition  of  his  invention  of  an 
electro-magnetic  recording  telegraph.  He  did  not  pretend  to  be  the 
discoverer  of  electro-magnetism,  nor  the  first  inventor  of  an  electro- 
magnetic machine  with  dynamic  power.  These  had  been  known  long- 
before.  So  early  as  the  middle  of  the  last  century  Dr.  Franklin  had 
produced  a  mechanical  effect  at  a  distance  of  half  a  mile  from  his  elec- 
trical machine,  by  means  of  a  wire  stretched  along  the  bank  of  the 
Schuylkill  ;  and  other  philosophers,  from  Franklin  to  Professors  Henry 
and  Wheatstone,  had  from  time  to  time  been  approaching  the  solution 
of  the  great  problem  which  Morse  triumphantly  solved — the  problem 
of  giving  i/rttelMgence  to  the  subtle  power  of  electro-magnetism  in  its 
operations.  Kay,  more  :  the  power  of  giving  to  it  an  audible  language, 
as  perfect  and  comprehensive  to  the  skilful  operator  as  the  spoken 
English  language. 

While  on  a  professional  visit  to  Europe  as  an  artist  in  ls;!2,  Mr. 
Morse,  who  had  enjoyed  many  conversations  with  his  friend.  Professor 
J.  Freeman  Dana,  and  heard  his  lectures  on  electro-magnetism  at  the 

much  engaged  in  the  pursuit  of  his  profession.  He  possessed  the  elements  of  a  superior 
artist,  and  was  rapidly  gaining  in  popularity  as  an  historical  painter  when  his  mind  and 
efforts  were  directed  to  the  consideration  of  the  telegraph,  which  gave  him  terrestrial 
immortality,  world-wide  fame,  and  a  competent  fortune.  The  consequence  is,  his  biogra- 
phers have  passed  over  his  most  interesting  career  as  an  artist  with  slight  mention.  His 
journals  and  note-hooks  on  art,  in  the  possession  of  his  family,  denote  his  great  devo- 
tion to  his  favorite  pursuit,  and  reveal  his  character  in  its  really  most  interesting  aspect. 

Monarchs  of  Europe  testified  their  appreciation  of  Professor  Morse's  beneficent  ser- 
vices in  producing  a  recording  telegraph  by  gifts  of  money  and  "  orders."  In  many 
v  ays,  at  home  and  abroad,  ho  was  the  recipient  of  honors  from  his  countrymen.  In  1850 
a  banquet  was  given  him  in  London  by  British  telegraph  companies,  and  in  1858  he  par- 
ticipated in  a  banquet  given  in  his  honor  in  Paris  by  about  one  hundred  Americans,  rep- 
resenting nearly  every  State  in  the  Republic. 

In  1808  a  bronze  statue  of  Professor  Morse  was  erected  in  Central  Park,  New  York,  and 
paid  for  by  the  voluntary  contributions  of  telegraph  employes.  It  was  unveiled  by 
Bryant,  the  poet,  in  June,  1871,  and  that  evening,  at  a  public  reception  given  him  at  the 
Academy  of  Music,  Professor  Morse,  with  one  of  the  instruments  first  employed  on  the 
Baltimore  and  Washington  line,  sent  a  message  of  greeting  to  all  the  principal  cities  on 
the  continent,  and  to  several  on  the  transatlantic  hemisphere.  His  last  public  act  was 
the  unveiling  of  the  statue  of  Franklin  in  Printing-House  Square,  New  York,  January  17, 
1872.    He  died  on  the  2d  of  April  following,  at  his  home  in  New  York. 

Professor  Morse  was  the  originator  of  the  idea  of  submarine  telegraphy,  as  the  narration 
in  the  text  certifies.  He  lived  to  see  it  in  successful  operation.  He  also  lived  to  see 
performed,  what  he  had  long  believed  to  be  a  possibility —  namely,  the  transmission  of 
despatches  over  the  same  wire  each  way  at  the  same  moment.  The  philosophy  of  this 
feat  is  yet  an  unsolved  riddle  to  electricians. 


FIRST  DECADE,  18:30-1840. 


38") 


Athenamm,  made  it  a  special  study  to  ascertain  what  scientific  men 
abroad  had  discovered  in  that  special  field  of  investigation.  Jle  was 
familiar  with  the  fable-prophecy  of  Strada,  a  Jesuit  priest,  in  1649,  con- 
cerning- an  electric  telegraph,  and  was  very  earnest  in  his  pursuit  of  in- 
formation, lie  was  satisfied  that  no  telegraph  proper — no  instrument 
for  writing  at  a  distance — had  yet  been  invented. 

Morse  became  much  interested  in  a  recent  discovery  in  France  of  the 
means  for  obtaining  an  electric  spark  from  a  magnet,  and  in  his  hoine- 
ward-bound  voyage  in  the  ship  Svtty,  from  Havre,  in  the  autumn  of 
1882,  that  discovery  was  the  principal  topic  of  conversation  among  his 
cultivated  fellow-passengers.  After  much  deep  thought  a  sudden 
mental  illumination  enabled  Mr.  Morse  to  conceive  not  only  the  idea  of 
an  electro-magnetic  and  chemical  recording  telegraph,  but  the  plan  of 
an  instrument  for  effecting  such  a  resvdt.  Before  the  Sully  reached 
New  York  he  had  made  drawings  and  specifications  of  such  an  instru- 
ment, which  he  exhibited  to  his  fellow-passengers. 

Other  occupations  absorbed  Mr.  Morse's  attention  for  two  or  three 
years  afterward,  and  the  grand  idea  was  allowed  to  slumber  in  his 
mind.  He  was  appointed  to  the  professorship  already  mentioned,  in 
the  University  of  the  City  of  Xew  York.  Finally  he  again  turned  his 
thoughts  toward  the  production  of  a  recording  electro-magnetic  tele- 
graph, and  in  November,  1885,  he  had  completed  the  rude  instrument 
which  his  family  preserve  at  their  house  near  Poughkeepsie.  It  em- 
bodied the  general  mechanical  principles  of  the  machines  now  in  use. 

Pursuing  his  experiments,  in  July,  1837,  Professor  Morse  was  ena- 
bled, by  means  of  two  instruments,  to  communicate  from  as  well  as  to 
distant  points.  Scores  of  persons  saw  the  telegraph  in  operation  at  the 
university  in  the  late  summer  and  early  autumn  of  1837,  and  pitied 
the  dreamer  because  he  was  foolishly  wasting  his  time  and  hi<rh  genius 
as  an  artist  in  playing  with  what  seemed  to  be  a  useless  scientific  toy. 

The  great  city — then  containing  a  population  of  about  three  hundred 
thousand — full  of  intellectual,  moral,  and  material  activities  of  every 
kind  ;  rapidly  extending  in  commerce,  manufactures,  the  mechanical 
arts,  architectural  beauty,  wealth,  and  moral,  religious,  social,  ami 
benevolent  institutions  ;  in  a  word,  endowed  with  everything  which 
constitutes  a  prosperous  and  enlightened  community — the  great  city 
did  not  dream  of  the  effulgence  which  was  about  to  overspread  it,  and 
make  it  conspicuous  for  all  time,  by  a  discovery  unparalleled  in  impor- 
tance in  the  history  of  civilization.  And  yet  that  effulgence  at  first 
seemed  like  a  waxing  aurora.  It  appeared  dimly  when,  in  response  to 
invitations  like  the  following,  quite  a  large  number  of  intelligent  and 


386 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


influential  citizens  assembled  in  Professor  Morse's  room  in  the  uni- 
versity : 

"  Professor  Morse  requests  the  honor  of  Thomas  S.  Cummings,  Esq.,  and  family's 
company  in  the  Geological  Cabinet  of  the  University,  Washington  Square,  to  witness  the 
operation  of  the  electro-magnetic  telegraph,  at  a  private  exhibition  of  it  to  a  few  friends, 
previous  to  its  leaving  the  city  for  Washington. 

"  The  apparatus  will  be  prepared  at  precisely  twelve  o'clock,  on  Wednesday,  24th  in- 
stant.   The  time  being  limited,  punctuality  is  specially  requested. 

"  New  York  University,  January  22,  1838." 

A  goodly  company  of  believers,  doubters,  and  critics  were  assem- 
bled. There  stood  the  instrument,  with  copper  wire  coiled  around  the 
room  attached  to  it.  Professor  Morse  requested  his  visitors  to  give 
him  brief  messages  for  transmission.  These  were  sent  around  the 
circuit  and  read  by  one  who  had  no  knowledge  of  the  words  that  had 
been  given  to  the  operator.  In  compliment  to  Mr.  Cummings,  who 
was  present,  and  who  had  recently  been  promoted  to  the  military  rank 
of  general,  one  of  the  gentlemen  present  handed  to  Professor  Morse  the 
following  message  : 

"ATTENTION    THE  UNIVERSE! 
BY  KINGDOMS,  RIGHT  WHEEL  !" 

This  was  distinctly  written,  letter  by  letter,  in  the  newly  invented 
telegraphic  alphabet,  on  a  strip  of  paper  moved  by  clock-work.  As- 
tonishment filled  the  minds  of  the  company,  as  they  with  grave  pon- 
derings  witnessed  the  seeming  miracle  that  had  been  wrought.  The 
sentence  was  prophetic.  It  was  a  call  to  attention  by  the  mundane 
universe  to  which  it  was  about  to  speak,  and  has  been  speaking  ever 
since.  Five  days  afterward  the  New  York  Journal  of  Commerce  con- 
tained the  following  sentence  : 

"  The  Telegraph. — We  did  not  witness  the  operations  of  Professor  Morse's  electro- 
magnetic telegraph  on  Wednesday  last,  but  we  learn  that  the  numerous  company  of  sci- 
entific persons  who  were  present  pronounced  it  entirely  successful.  Intelligence  was 
instantly  transmitted  through  a  circuit  of  ten  miles,  and  legibly  written  on  a  cylinder  at 
the  extremity  of  the  circuit." 

Professor  Morse  now  started  for  Washington  to  seek  government  aid 
in  perfecting  and  testing  his  invention.  lie  accepted  an  invitation  to 
stop  in  Philadelphia  and  exhibit  his  discovery  to  the  committee  on  the 
arts  and  sciences,  of  the  Franklin  Institute.  Their  verdict  was 
highly  commendatory,  and  on  repeating  this  fact  to  his  brother,  the 
late  Sidney  E.  Morse,*  that  gentleman  responded  in  words  that  exhib- 
ited great  prophetic  prescience.    He  said  : 

*  Sidney  Edwards  Morse  was  born  in  Charlestown,  Mass.,  February  7,  1794.  He  grad- 
uated at  Yale  College  in  1811  ;  entered  the  famous  law  school  at  Litchfield,  Conn.,  but 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840.  387 

"  Your  invention,  measuring  it  by  the  power  which  it  will  give  man  to  accomplish 
his  plans,  is  not  only  the  greatest  invention  of  the  age,  but  the  greatest  invention  of  any 
age.  I  see,  as  an  almost  immediate  effect,  that  the  surface  of  the  earth  will  be  net- 
worked with  wire,  and  every  wire  will  be  a  nerve,  conveying  to  every  part  intelligence  of 
what  is  doing  in  every  other  part.  The  earth  will  become  a  huge  animal  with  ten  million 
hands,  and  in  every  hand  a  pen  to  record  whatever  the  directing  soul  may  dictate.  No 
limit  can  be  assigned  to  the  value  of  the  invention." 

Sidney  E.  Morse  was  then  the  editor  and  proprietor  of  the  New- 
York  Observer,  now  (1883)  the  oldest  weekly  newspaper  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  having  been  published  sixty  consecutive  years.  It  is  ably 
edited  by  the  Rev.  S.  I.  Prime,  D.D.,  who  has  been  connected  with  it 
as  editor  and  proprietor  since  1840.* 

preferring  literature  to  the  legal  profession,  he  established  the  Boston  Recorder,  the  rirst 
so-called  religious  newspaper  issued  in  America.  That  was  in  1815,  when  he  was  twenty- 
one  years  of  age.  In  1823,  in  connection  with  his  younger  brother,  Richard  C,  he 
founded  the  New  York  Observer,  also  a  "  religious  newspaper,"  which  he,  as  senior 
editor,  conducted  with  great  ability  and  success  until  1858,  when  he  disposed  of  his 
interest  in  the  paper.  Like  his  brother  the  professor,  Mr.  Sidney  Morse  was  possessed  of 
an  inventive  genius.  In  connection  with  that  brother  he  invented  a  fire-engine,  in  1817. 
In  1820  he  published  a  small  geography  for  schools,  and  in  1839,  in  connection  with  an- 
other, he  invented  a  process  for  producing  maps  and  other  outline  pictures  to  be  printed 
typographically.  This  process  was  first  practically  applied  to  the  production  of  maps  for 
a  new  edition  of  his  geography,  of  which  100,000  copies  were  sold  the  first  year.  He 
called  the  process  Cerography.  Its  product  was  a  crude  prototyjie  of  the  plates  of  what 
is  now  known  as  the  Moss  photographic  process.  During  the  latter  years  of  his  life  Mr. 
Morse  devoted  much  time  and  study  to  an  invention  for  making  rapid  deep-sea  sound 
ings.    He  died  December  23,  1871. 

*  Samuel  Iremeus  Prime,  D.D.,  is  a  leader  of  the  conservative  religious  press  of  our 
country.  He  is  of  clerical  ancestry.  His  great-grandfather,  the  Eev.  Ebenezer  Prime, 
was  a  graduate  of  Yale  and  a  distinguished  scholar  and  divine  before  the  period  of  the 
Revolution.  His  grandfather,  Dr.  Benjamin  Young  Prime,  was  a  graduate  of  Princeton 
College,  and  was  an  accomplished  physician.  He  was  a  man  of  varied  learning,  writing 
both  poetry  and  prose  freely  in  Greek,  Latin,  French,  and  English.  He  wrote  many 
popular  songs  and  ballads  during  the  Revolution.  The  father  of  S.  Irenams  Prime  was 
the  Rev.  Nathaniel  S.  Prime,  D.D.,  who  died  in  1855.  He,  too,  was  a  graduate  of  Prince- 
ton, and  was  distinguished  for  his  scholarly  attainments  and  fervid  eloquence  as  a  Pres- 
byterian preacher. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  at  Ballston,  N.  Y.,  on  November  4,  1812.  While 
he  was  yet  an  infant  his  parents  removed  to  Cambridge,  "Washington  County,  N.  Y.,  and 
there  his  boyhood  was  spent.  Bright  and  studious,  he  was  fitted  for  college  at  the  age  of 
eleven  years.  But  he  was  nearly  fourteen  yenrs  of  age  before  he  was  permitted  to  enter 
"Williams  College.  He  was  graduated  with  one  of  the  highest  honors  of  his  class  before 
he  was  seventeen  years  old.  Studying  theology  at  Princeton,  he  entered  upon  the  duties 
of  the  Christian  ministry  before  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age,  at  Ballston  Spa,  near  his 
birthplace.  He  labored  with  great  earnestness  and  zeal  ;  and,  overworked  at  the  end  of 
a  year,  he  was  compelled  by  failing  health  to  leave  the  pulpit  for  a  while. 

Mr.  Prime  resumed  clerical  duties  in  Matteawan,  Duchess  County,  where  for  about  three 
years  he  labored  most  earnestly  and  acceptably,  when  again  his  health  gave  way.  It 


888 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Professor  Morse  exhibited  his  wonderful  invention  to  government 
officials  and  members  of  Congress,  but  met  with  little  encouragement  ; 
so  he  filed  a  caveat  in  the  Patent  Office  and  went  to  Europe  to  seek 

now  became  evident  to  bim  tbat  bis  physical  strength  was  not  adequate  to  tbe  sustention 
of  continuous  labor  in  tbe  vineyard  which  be  bad  chosen  for  bis  life-task,  and  he  turned 
his  attention  to  literature  and  the  held  of  journalism.  In  1840  he  became  assistant  edito.' 
of  tbe  New  Y'ork  Observer.  With  only  one  slight  interval,  he  has  been  editorially  con- 
nected with  the  Observer  until  now,  a  period  of  forty-three  years.  That  interval  was  is 
18-49  when  he  was  appointed  secretary  of  the  American  Bible  Society.  He  soon  found 
that  the  much  public  speaking  which  the  duties  of  that  office  required  was  too  much  for 
him  to  endure,  when  he  resigned  and  resumed  his  connection  with  tbe  Observer. 

In  1853  Dr.  Prime  tried  tbe  advantages  of  foreign  travel,  on  account  of  frequent  failing 
health,  when  bis  brother,  the  Rev.  E.  D.  G.  Prime,  became  associate  editor  of  the 
Observer.  He  spent  some  time  in  Europe  and  extended  his  travels  to  Egypt  and  Pales- 
tine. During  that  time  he  enriched  the  columns  of  tbe  Observer  with  a  most  valuable 
series  of  letters  over  tbe  signature  of  "  Irena;us, "  which  were  afterward  published  in 
book  form.  In  1858  Mr.  Morse  sold  bis  interest  in  the  Observer  property  to  Mr.  Prime, 
since  which  time  the  latter  has  been  the  chief  editor  and  proprietor  of  this  venerable  but 
vigorous  and  progressive  newspaper. 

Dr.  Prime  has  been  all  through  life  a  most  industrious  laborer,  especially  in  the  field 
of  literature,  and  a  most  earnest  and  faithful  worker  in  various  societies  for  tbe  promo- 
tion of  Christianity  and  good  living.  He  is  the  author  of  more  than  forty  volumes,  many 
ot  them  not  bearing  his  name.  They  have  beon  issued  by  excellent  publishers— Harpers, 
Appletons,  Randolph,  and  Carter.  Among  them,  as  most  prominent,  may  be  mentioned 
"  The  Old  White  Meeting-House,  or  Reminiscences  of  a  Country  Congregation,"  18-45  ; 
"  Travels  in  Europe  and  the  East,"  two  volumes,  1855  ;  '"Letters  from  Switzerland," 
1800  ;  "  The  Alhambra  and  the  Kremlin,  1  1873  ;  "  The  Life  of  Samuel  P.  B.  Morse," 
1874  ;  "  Under  the  Trees,"  1874  ;  "  Songs  of  the  Soul"  (selections),  1874  ;  four  vol- 
umes on  "  Prayer  and  its  Answers." 

Dr.  Prime  is  as  "  busy  as  a  bee'"  in  social  and  religious  work.  He  is  president  of  the 
New  Y'ork  Association  lor  the  Advancement  of  Science  and  Art,  vice-president  and 
director  of  the  American  Tract  Society,  ex-corresponding  secretary  and  director  of  the 
American  Bible  Society,  vice  president  and  director  of  the  American  and  Foreign  Chris- 
tian Union,  corresponding  secretary  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance  of  the  United  States, 
director  of  the  American  Colonization  Society,  director  and  member  of  the  executive 
committee  of  the  New  York  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Crime,  member  of  tbe  Inter- 
national Code  Committee,  trustee  of  Williams  College,  and  ex-president  and  a  trustee  ot 
Wells  College  for  Women.  Besides  these  offices  and  trusts,  he  is  identified  with  many 
institutions  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  of  which  he  is  a  member.  None  of  these  offices 
does  Dr.  Prime  hold  as  sinecures,  but  he  is  a  working  member— generally  a  "  wheel- 
horse"  bearing  the  brunt — attending  all  meetings,  and  giving  his  time  gratuitously  to 
every  cause  which  he  undertakes  to  promote. 

Dr.  Prime  is  eminently  conservative  in  all  things.  He  is  earnest  in  controversy. 
Right  or  wrong,  he  deals  telling  blows.  In  tbe  social  circle  he  is  one  of  the  most  genial 
of  men,  full  of  wit  and  humor  and  pleasant  repartee.  In  the  pulpit  he  is  always  im- 
pressive, and  his  arguments  are  convincing.  As  a  speaker  he  is  easy,  graceful,  impas- 
sioned, and  marked  by  simplicity.  He  bears  the  burden  of  more  than  threescore  and 
ten  years  with  ease.  Dr.  Prime  received  his  honorary  degree  from  Hampden-Sidney  Col- 
lege, Virginia. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1810. 


3&ft 


tlie  countenance  of  some  foreign  government.  He  was  unsuccessful. 
England  would  not  grant  him  a  patent,  and  from  France  he  received 
only  a  brevet  <P t/ic<  /ilio?i,  a  worthless  piece  of  paper  that  did  not  secure 
to  him  any  special  privilege.  Yet  among  scientific  men  like  Arago 
and  Humboldt  the  invention  excited  wonder,  admiration,  and  great 
expectations. 

Professor  Morse  returned  to  New  York  in  the  steamship  Great  West- 
(/■/i.in  April,  1839,  disappointed  but  not  disheartened.  lie  waited 
nearly  four  years  before  Congress  did  anything  for  him.  Meanwhile 
he  had  demonstrated  the  feasibility  of  marine  telegraphy  by  laying  a 
submarine  cable  across  the  harbor  of  Xew  York,  and  working  it  per- 
fectly. This  achievement  won  for  Morse  the  gold  medal  of  the  Ameri- 
can Institute. 

Soon  after  that  Professor  Morse  suggested  the  feasibility  of  an  ocean 
telegraph  to  connect  Europe  and  America.  In  a  letter  to  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  John  C.  Spencer,  in  August,  1843,  Morse  said,  after 
referring  to  certain  scientific  principles  : 

"  The  practical  inference  from  this  law  is  that  telegraphic  communication  on  the 
electro-magnetic  plan  may  with  certainty  be  established  across  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 
Startling  as  this  may  now  seem,  I  am  confident  the  time  will  come  when  this  project  will 
be  realized." 

In  February,  1843,  the  late  John  P.  Kennedy,  of  Baltimore,  then  in 
Congress,  moved  an  appropriation  of  §30,000,  under  the  direction  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  for  testing  the  merits  of  the  telegraph. 
Cave  .Johnson,  of  Tennessee,  proposed  one  half  that  sum  to  be  used  in 
testing  the  merits  of  mesmerism,  while  Houston,  from  the  same  State, 
thought  Millerism  ought  to  be  included  in  the  benefits  of  the  appropri- 
ation. In  this  cheap  wit  and  displays  of  ignorance  the  Speaker  of  the 
House  (John  White,  of  Kentucky)  indulged  ;  but  there  were  wiser 
men  enough  in  the  House  to  pass  a  bill  making  the  desired  appropria- 
tion on  February  23d.  When  it  went  to  the  Senate  it  did  not  meet 
with  sneers  nor  opposition,  but  at  twilight  on  the  last  day  of  the 
sevssion  there  were  one  hundred  and  nineteen  bills  before  Morse's,  and 
he  retired  to  his  lodgings  with  a  heavy  heart,  satisfied  he  would  have 
to  wait  another  year.  He  paid  his  hotel  bill,  procured  his  railway 
ticket  for  home  the  next  morning,  and  had  just  seventy-five  cents  left 
— "  all  the  money  I  had  in  the  world  that  I  could  call  my  own,"  said 
the  professor  in  relating  the  circumstance  to  the  writer. 

While  taking  his  breakfast,  before  it  was  fairly  light,  the  next  moni- 
es "  */      o  7 

ing,  a  waiter  told  him  there  was  a  young  lady  in  the  parlor  who  de- 
sired to  see  hiin.    There  he  met  Miss  Anna  Ellsworth,  a  daughter  of 


390 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


his  good  friend  Henry  L.  Ellsworth,  the  Commissioner  of  Patents. 
She  extended  her  hand,  and  said  : 

"  I  have  come  to  congratulate  you  !" 

"  Upon  what  V  inquired  the  professor. 

"  Upon  the  passage  of  your  bill." 

"  Impossible  !  its  fate  was  sealed  at  dusk  last  evening.  You  must 
be  mistaken." 

"  I  am  not  mistaken,"  responded  the  earnest  young  girl  ;  "  father 
sent  me  to  tell  you  that  your  bill  was  passed.  He  remained  until  the 
session  closed,  and  yours  was  the  last  bill  acted  upon.  It  was  passed 
just  five  minutes  before  twelve  o'clock,  the  hour  of  final  adjournment, 
and  I  am  so  glad  to  be  the  first  one  to  tell  you.  Mother  says,  too,  you 
must  come  home  with  me' to  breakfast." 

Grasping  the  hand  of  his  young  friend,  the  grateful  professor 
thanked  her  again  and  again  for  bringing  him  such  pleasant  tidings. 
He  assured  her  that  the  only  reward  he  could  offer  her  was  a  promise 
that  she  should  select  the  first  message  to  be  sent  over  the  telegraph. 

A  little  more  than  a  year  after  this  interview  a  line  of  telegraph  was 
constructed  between  Washington  and  Baltimore.  The  instruments 
were  ready  at  each  end;  the  one  at  Washington,  managed  by  Professor 
Morse,  was  in  the  Supreme  Court  room  ;  the  one  at  Baltimore,  man- 
aged by  Mr.  Alfred  Vail,  was  in  the  Montclair  depot.  Morse  sent  for 
Miss  Ellsworth  to  bring  her  message.  She  gave  him  words  from  the 
hps  of  Balaam  :  "  What  hath  God  wrought  I" 

And  this  was  the  first  and  appropriate  message  ever  transmitted  by 
a  recording  telegraph.  The  first  public  message  was  the  announcement 
from  the  Democratic  National  Convention  sitting  in  Baltimore,  to  Silas 
Wright,  in  Washington,  that  James  K.  Polk  was  nominated  for  the 
Presidency  of  the  United  States.  The  Johnsons,  the  Iloustons,  and 
the  sneering  Speaker  were  astounded.  Doubters  were  soon  ready  to 
bring  garlanded  bulls  to  sacrifice  to  it  as  a  god,  and  a  poet  wrote  : 

"  What  more,  presumptuous  mortals,  will  you  dare  ? 
See  Franklin  seize  the  Clouds,  their  bolts  to  bury  ; 
The  Sun  assigns  his  pencil  to  Daguerre, 

And  Morse  the  Lightning  makes  his  secretary." 

The  regular  business  of  the  Morse  electro-magnetic  telegraph  was 
begun  in  a  small  basement  room,  No.  46  Wall  Street,  New  York,  in 
1S44,  for  which  a  rent  of  $500  a  year  was  paid.  There  was  a  single 
telegraphic  instrument  in  the  room  and  a  solitary  operator,  who  was 
idle  most  of  the  time  for  want  of  business.*    But  the  invention  was 

*  The  only  survivor  of  the  first  operators  of  the  Morse  telegraph  is  Captain  Louis  M. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


391 


soon  appreciated  by  thoughtful  and  enterprising  men.  Several  tele- 
graph companies  were  organized  to  use  it.  So  early  as  18-1G  Henry 
(Vlieilly,  one  of  the  energetic  citizens  of  New  York,  formed  a  project 
for  using  ah  the  companies  for  a  general  system  of  telegraphic  opera- 
tions, and  he  actually  established  a  system  extending  over  a  line  eight 
thousand  miles  in  length.*  Within  seven  years  from  the  time  when 
the  first  message  passed  over  the  wires  between  Washington  and  Balti- 
more, there  were  more  than  fifty  separate  telegraph  organizations 
within  the  limits  of  the  United  States.  The  most  important  of  these 
companies  were  consolidated  in  1S51,  the  year  in  which  the  Western 
Union  Telegraph  Company  was  formed.  That  is  the  leading  company 
in  this  country.  It  occupies  the  greater  portion  of  an  immense  building 
which  was  erected  about  ten  years  ago  on  the  corner  of  Broadway  and 
Dey  Street,  New  York,  at  a  cost  of  over  $2,000,000.  In  that  building 
about  six  hundred  operators  and  clerks  are  employed.  They  are 
divided  into  relief  gangs,  so  that  work  never  ceases.  A  large  portion 
of  this  force  is  composed  of  \'oung  women.  They  all  work  entirely  by 
the  ear,  for  the  telegraph  has,  for  them,  a  distinct  language  of  its  own. 

In  the  summer  of  1S44-,  less  than  forty  years  ago,  three  men  per- 
formed  the  entire  telegraph  service  in  the  United  States.    In  1882  the 

Chasteau,  who  was  living  in  Philadelphia  in  August,  1883,  the  commander  of  the  Park 
Guard,  and  an  old  journalist.  At  the  beginning  of  operations,  after  the  line  between 
Washington  and  Baltimore  was  completed.  Professor  Morse  was  the  superintendent  at 
Washington,  with  Alfred  Vail  as  his  efficient  assistant  superintendent  there.  Henry  J. 
Eogers  was  the  assistant  superintendent  at  Baltimore.  Lewis  Zantzinger  was  the  opera 
tor  at  Washington,  and  Mr.  Chasteau  at  Baltimore.  Of  the  persons  here  mentioned,  only 
Mr.  Chasteau,  as  we  have  observed,  now  lives  on  the  earth. 

The  telegraphic  line  between  Washington  and  Baltimore  was  then  a  copper  wire 
wrapped  in  cotton.  The  instruments  were  all  very  large  :  the  relay  magnet  was  kept  in  a 
bos  three  feet  long,  locked,  and  the  key  in  Superintendent  Vail  s  pocket.  No  insulators 
were  then  known,  but  sealing-wax,  glass,  oiled  silk,  and  an  imperfect  preparation  of 
asphaltum  were  used.  All  connections  were  made  with  glass  tubes  filled  with  mercury, 
and  all  operators  during  thunder-storms  held  in  their  hands  large  pieces  of  oiled  silk. 

*  Mr.  O'Reilly  yet  lives  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven  years 
possesses  remarkable  vigor  of  mind  and  body.  He  is  a  native  of  Ireland,  where  he  was 
born  in  180G.  He  came  with  his  parents  to  America  in  181G,  was  apprenticed  to  a 
printer  in  New  York,  and  at  the  age  of  seventeen  years  became  assistant  editor  of  a  lead- 
ing New  York  newspaper.  Before  he  was  twenty-one  he  was  chosen  editor  of  a  daily 
paper  at  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  the  first  established  between  the  Hudson  River  and  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  During  a  long  life  he  has  ever  been  an  advocate  and  promoter  of  the  most 
important  measures  tending  to  the  prosperity  of  the  country,  whether  State  or  national, 
and  was  a  pioneer  in  many  movements  to  that  end.  He  has  deposited  in  the  New  York 
Historical  Society  about  two  hundred  manuscript  volumes,  which  comprise  valuable 
authentic  materials  for  a  history  of  the  public  improvements  in  the  State  of  New  York, 
For  a  biography  of  Mr.  O'Reilly,  see  Lossing's  "  Cyclopaedia  of  United  States  History." 


392 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Western  Union  Telegraph  Company  alone,*  which  has  a  capital  stock 
of  $80,000,000,  had  131,060  miles  of  poles  and  374,368  miles  of  wire 
employed  ;  had  12,06S  offices  ;  had  sent  out  during  the  year  38,842,- 
2+7  messages  ;  received  as  revenue  $17,114,165  ;  expended  §9,996,095, 
and  secured  a  profit  of  $7,118,070.  This  is  the  substance  of  a  report 
from  only  one  of  the  telegraph  companies  now  (1883)  existing  in  our 
country.    Over  this  great  corporation  Dr.  Xorvin  Green  presides,  f 

*  The  officers  of  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company  in  1882-83  are  :  Norvin 
Green,  president  ;  Thomas  T.  Eckert,  vice-president  and  general  manager  ;  Augustus 
Schell,  Harrison  Durkee,  and  John  Van  Home,  vice-presidents  ;  D.  H.  Bates,  acting 
vice-president  and  assistant  general  manager  ;  J.  B.  Van  Every,  acting  vice-president 
and  auditor  ;  A.  R.  Brewer,  secretary  ;  R.  H.  Rochester,  treasurer  ;  Clarkson  Carey,  at- 
torney. 

f  Norvin  Green,  M.D.,  the  president  of  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company,  is  a 
native  of  Kentucky,  where  he  was  born  in  1818.  In  1840  he  graduated  in  the  medical 
department  of  the  University  of  Louisville.  Active  and  energetic,  he  early  took  part  in 
political  movements,  and  was  several  times  elected  to  a  seat  in  the  Kentucky  Legislature, 
in  which  he  served  with  distinction.  Dr.  Green  was  appointed,  in  1853,  a  commissioner 
in  charge  of  the  building  of  a  new  custom-house  and  post-office  at  Louisville.  The  next 
year  he  became  interested  in  telegraphy,  and  showed  such  administrative  ability  that  he 
was  soon  chosen  president  of  the  South- Western  Telegraph  Company.  Dr.  Green  was 
not  only  held  in  highest  esteem  by  business  men,  but  he  was  exceedingly  popular  with 
all  classes,  and  is  especially  noted  for  his  kindness  of  heart.  He  won  great  success  for 
his  telegraph  company,  which  was  finally  merged  into  the  American  Telegraph  Company, 
organized  some  twenty-five  years  ago  by  Peter  Cooper,  Cyrus  W.  Field,  Wilson  G.  Hunt, 
and  others,  of  which  Peter  Cooper,  Abram  S.  Hewitt,  and  Edwards  S.  Sanford  were  succes- 
sive presidents.  It  became  a  constituent  part  of  the  Western  Union  system  in  18fifi,  and 
in  recognition  of  his  services  and  ability  Dr.  Green  was  made  vice-president  of  the  latter 
company,  which  position  he  filled  with  great  ability  until  the  death  of  the  president, 
William  Orton,  in  1878. 

Dr.  Green  was  chosen  to  succeed  Mr.  Orton  in  the  presidency  of  the  Western  Union 
Telegraph  Company,  and  has  performed  the  functions  of  that  important  position  with 
rare  ability  ever  since.  He  combines  two  essential  qualifications  for  that  office,  namely, 
a  thorough  practical  knowledge  of  the  telegraph  system,  and  experience  in  public  life  and 
a  knowledge  of  public  men.  While  he  was  vice-president  of  the  company  he  was  one  of 
three  Candida  tee  for  a  seat  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  and  was  only  defeated  by 
a  blunder  in  counting  the  votes. 

In  the  summer  of  1883  Dr.  Green  visited  England,  and  on  August  3d,  just  before  his 
departure  for  home,  a  dinner  was  given  in  his  honor  in  London  by  the  directors  of  the 
Eastern  Telegraph  and  Eastern  Telegraph  Extension  companies,  at  which  John  Pender, 
a  member  of  Parliament,  presided. 

Thomas  Thompson  Eckert,  who  is  virtually  the  managing  head  of  the  Western  Union 
Telegraph  system,  was  born  at  St.  Clairsville,  Ohio,  April  23,  1825.  He  learned  teleg- 
raphy in  1849,  beginning  at  the  bottom  of  the  ladder,  and  had  made  such  a  reputation 
for  ability  in  that  field  that  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  he  was  summoned  to  Wash- 
ington and  placed  in  charge  of  the  military  telegraphs  of  the  Department  of  the  Potomac, 
with  the  rank  of  captain.  In  18G2  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  major,  and  given 
charge  of  the  military  telegraph  department  at  Washington.    In  18G4  he  had  successfully 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


393 


It  was  at  about  this  period,  when  the  three  great  elements  which 
have  contributed  so  largely  to  the  growth  and  prosperity  of  New  York 
(  ity — the  railway,  the  express,  and  the  telegraph  systems — were  in  the 

organized  the  entire  military  telegraph  system,  and  had  in  so  many  ways  shown 
his  ability  that  lie  was  chosen  for  Assistant  Secretary  of  War,  with  the  rank  of  lieuten- 
ant-colonel. In  18G5  he  was  selected  for  the  duty  of  conferring  with  the  commissioners 
of  the  Southern  Confederacy  at  City  Point,  and  for  his  services  was  breveted  brigadier- 
general.  He  resigned  the  secretaryship  to  accept  the  responsible  post  of  general  super- 
intendent of  the  eastern  division  of  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company.  In  this 
position  he  organized  all  the  connecting  lines  for  the  new  cables  and  the  supervision  of  the 
transatlantic  correspondence,  which  began  with  the  successful  laying  of  the  first  cable. 

In  1875  ho  accepted  the  presidency  of  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Telegraph  Company,  and 
made  it  so  prominent  a  factor  in  the  telegraph  business  of  the  country  that  the  Western 
Union  Company  made  overtures  for  a  pooling  arrangement  between  the  companies, 
which  resulted  in  an  arrangement  satisfactory  to  both.  After  a  year  or  two  of  inactive 
work  as  president  of  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Company,  General  Eekert  withdrew  from 
its  service,  and  in  1879,  in  conjunction  with  Jay  Gould  and  others,  organized  the 
American  Union  Telegraph  Company.  In  1881,  when  Mr.  Gould  became  one  of  the 
largest  owners  of  the  Western  Union  Company,  it  and  the  American  Union  Company 
were  merged,  and  General  Eckert  was  unanimously  chosen  for  the  position  of  general 
manager  of  the  consolidated  companies,  in  which  position  he  has  added  largely  to  the 
reputation  of  the  company  for  prompt  and  efficient  service,  and,  if  r>ossible.  to  his  own 
reputation  of  being  the  most  vigorous,  straightforward,  and  able  practical  telegraph  man 
of  the  day.  In  Dr.  Green's  absence  in  Europe,  during  the  great  strike  of  telegraph 
operators  and  linemen,  in  July  and  August,  1883,  the  general  was  in  full  command  of 
the  company,  and  while  he  was  uncompromising  in  yielding  anything  to  the  strikers 
during  its  progress,  he  acted  with  great  magnanimity  toward  them  as  soon  as  it  was 
over. 

William  Orton,  the  predecessor  of  Dr.  Green  in  the  presidency  of  the  Western  Union 
Telegraph  Company,  was  a  man  of  rare  gifts.  He  was  a  native  of  Allegan}-  County,  N.  Y., 
where  he  was  born  in  June,  1826.  He  died  at  his  residence  in  New  York  City,  April  22, 
1S78.  Receiving  a  meagre  common-school  education,  young  Orton  entered  the  Normal 
School  at  Albany,  graduated  with  honor,  and  began  school-teaching  in  Geneva,  N.  Y. 
He  became  a  bookseller,  first  in  Geneva,  then  in  Auburn,  and  finally  in  New  York.  Ho 
was  a  warm  Republican  in  politics  and  a  thorough  patriot,  and  in  18G2  he  was  appointed 
a  collector  of  internal  revenue  in  New  York  City.  In  this  position  he  showed  his  great 
executive  ability,  and,  without  being  a  lawyer,  he  displayed  such  legal  skill  that  he  was 
strongly  commended  to  the  favor  of  Secretary  Chase.  He  was  called  to  Washington  as 
commissioner  of  internal  revenue  at  the  seat  of  government  because  of  his  "  administrative 
ability  and  his  power  of  grasping  details.''  His  health  giving  way,  he  resigned.  Almost 
immediately  he  was  offered  the  presidency  of  the  United  States  Telegraph  Company,  at  a 
salary  of  $10,000  a  year.  He  accepted  it.  In  this  position  he  showed  such  remarkable 
ability  that  when  his  company  united  with  the  Western  Union  Company  in  18G6,  Mr.  Orton 
was  made  vice-president  of  the  new  organization.  On  the  retirement  of  its  president  on 
account  of  failing  health,  in  1867.  Mr.  Orton  was  chosen  his  successor,  and  he  immediately 
brought  to  bear  upon  its  business  his  wonderful  organizing  powers  and  administrative 
ability  with  what  success  its  history  fully  attests.  He  was  at  once  its  president,  its  cham- 
pion on  all  occasions,  and  its  vigilant  and  untiring  servant.  Overwork  broke  him  down.  At 


394 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


first  stages  of  their  development,  between  1835  and  1840,  that  Samuel 
Wood  worth,  a  printer  by  profession  and  a  poet  of  much  excellence, 
wrote  a  remarkable  poem.* 

the  time  of  bis  death  Mr.  Orton  was  president  of  the  International  Ocean  Telegraph 
Company  (the  Cuban  line),  the  Gold  and  Stock  Telegraph  Company,  and  the  Pacific  and 
Southern  Atlantic  Telegraph  companies.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Union  League  Club, 
of  the  Board  of  Trade,  and  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

*  This  poem,  which  is  inserted  below,  seems  to  have  been  designed  to  call  the  atten 
tion  of  the  citizens  of  New  York,  who  were  then  witnesses  of  the  amazing  growth  of  the 
metropolis — its  marvellous  transformations,  its  inventions,  and  its  wonderful  promises 
for  the  future — to  the  contrast  of  the  then  aspect  of  the  city  and  that  of  the  more  feeble 
town,  when  the  poet's  "old  house  was  new."  The  poem,  written  when  the  author  was 
partially  paralyzed,  lay  hidden  in  manuscript  until  brought  to  public  notice  in  the  New 
York  Evening  Post,  by  Mr.  J.  Barnitz  Bacon,  a  zealous  antiquarian.  Woodworth  died  in 
1842. 

"  THE  HOUSE  I  LIVE  IN. 

"Yea,  I  think  it  meet,  as  long  as  I  am  in  this  tabernacle,  to  stir  you  up  by  putting  you  in  remem- 
brance, knowing  that  shortly  I  must  put  off  this  my  tabernacle."— 2  Peter  1  :  18. 


"  When  this  old  house  was  young  and  new, 

Some  fifty  years  ago, 
Before  this  thriving  city  grew 

In  population  so  ; 
The  Revolution  was  just  past. 

Our  States  were  weak  and  few, 
And  many  thought  they  could  not  last. 

When  this  old  house  was  new. 

"Then  Chatham  Street  was  Boston  Road, 

Queen  Street  was  changed  to  Pearl  — 
For  we  with  love  no  longer  glowed 

For  king  and  queen  and  earl. 
The  British  troops  had  gone  away. 

And  even'  patriot  true 
Then  kept  Evacuation  Day, 

When  this  old  house  was  new. 

"  Our  country,  then  in  infancy, 

Had  just  begun  to  grow, 
Oppressed  by  debt  and  poverty. 

Some  fifty  years  ago. 
But  Washington,  the  first  of  men, 

To  God  and  virtue  true, 
Presided  o'er  the  nation  then, 

When  this  old  house  was  new. 

"  We'd  thirteen  feeble  States  in  all, 

And  Congress  met,  we  know. 
In  the  old  Wall  Street  City  Hall 

Some  fifty  years  ago. 
There  did  our  chief,  as  President, 

His  godlike  course  pursue. 
We  were  not  into  parties  rent, 

When  this  old  house  was  new. 

'  Louisiana  was  not  ours, 

We  merely  lined  the  coast ; 
While  colonies  of  foreign  powers 
Encircled  us  almost. 


We  had  not  then  the  Floridas, 
Our  coasting  ships  were  few, 

Though  some  from  China  brought  us  teas, 
When  this  old  house  was  new. 

"Commerce  and  agriculture  drooped, 

The  arts  we  scarcely  met, 
Nor  had  a  native  pencil  grouped 

Our  deathless  patriots  yet. 
Genius  of  literature,  'twas  thought, 

Would  never  rise  to  view, 
And  native  poetry  was  short, 

When  this  old  house  was  new. 

"  Our  city  then  did  not  extend 

Beyond  the  Collect  Brook, 
And  one  might  from  its  northern  end 

Upon  the  Battery  look. 
Broad  Street  was  but  a  muddy  creek, 

And  banks  were  very  few  ; 
The  Greenwich  stage  ran  twice  a  week, 

When  this  old  house  was  new. 

"  We  once  a  week  from  Boston  heard, 

From  Philadelphia  twice, 
And  oft  in  summer  we  got  word 

Of  Southern  corn  and  rice, 
Tobacco,  cotton,  indigo, 

Whate'er  the  planters  grew  : 
The  mails  all  travelled  very  slow, 

When  this  old  house  was  new. 

' '  To  visit  Albany  or  Troy 

Was  quite  an  enterprise  ; 
In  Tappan  Zee  the  wind  was  flawy, 

And  billows  oft  would  rise  ; 
And  then  the  Overslaugh  alone 

For  weeks  detained  a  few  : 
Steamboats  and  railroads  were  unknown 

When  this  old  house  was  new. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


395 


The  allusion  in  the  poem  to  the  Halls  of  Justice  or  the  Tombs, 
as  the  city  prison  is  called,  brings  us  to  a  consideration  of  the  plac  es 
in  the  city  provided  for  the  restraint  of  criminals  and  debtors  at  that 
time. 


"  Our  trade  with  the  West  India  Isles 

Was  not  extremely  good, 
But  we  got  French  and  English  files 

Of  papers  when  we  could. 
News-boats  were  then  not  known  at  all, 

And  bulletins  were  few  ; 
But  there  were  boatmen  at  Whitehall 

When  this  old  house  was  new. 

• '  An  octagon  pagoda  rose 

Upon  the  Battery  green, 
Which  we  ascended  when  we  chose, 

If  ships  were  to  be  seen. 
'Twas  built  some  fifty  years  ago  ; 

There  Freedom's  banner  flew, 
And  there  small  beer  and  ale  would  flow, 

When  this  old  house  was  new. 

"  No  towers  with  dark  Egyptian  frown* 

Graced  Centre  Street,  we  know, 
Bridewell  and  Jail  were  far  up  town, 

The  courts  were  far  below. 
Nor  did  we  have  such  vice  and  guilt 

As  now  disgust  the  view  ; 
State  prisons  had  not  yet  been  built 

When  this  old  house  was  new. 

"  'Tis  true  our  streets  were  somewhat  dark, 

No  gas  its  lustre  shed, 
There  was  no  playhouse  near  the  Park, 

Nor  near  the  Old  Bull's  Head. 
And  as  our  journalist  records, 

E'en  churches  were  but  few  ; 
Our  city  had  but  seven  small  wards 

WThen  this  old  house  was  new. 

"  Oswego  Market,  from  Broadway 
Ran  down  in  Maiden  Lane, 
And  Barley  Street  has  since  that  day 

Been  altered  to  Duane. 
Duke  Street  has  since  been  changed  to 
Stone, 

And  Cedar  Street,  'tis  true, 
As  Little  Queen  Street  then  was  known, 
When  this  old  house  was  new. 

"  Crown  Street  is  now  called  Liberty, 

Prince  Street  was  changed  to  Rose, 
Princess  to  Beaver— thus  the  free 

New  appellations  chose. 
The  celebrated  Doctors'  mob, 

From  which  some  mischief  grew, 
Had  nearly  proved  a  serious  job, 

When  this  old  house  was  new. 


"  Old  Trinity  was  just  rebuilt — 

'Twas  burnt  by  British  men  ; 
Modern  improvement  bears  the  guilt 

Of  razing  it  again. 
We  sighed  for  water  pure  and  sweet, 

As  now  we  daily  do, 
And  saw  them  bore  for 't  near  Wall  Street 

When  this  old  house  was  new. 

"  The  Federal  Constitution  brought 

About  a  great  parade — 
A  grand  procession,  where  they  wrought 

At  every  art  and  trade. 
The  Almshouse,  fronting  Chambers  Street, 

Had  not  then  risen  to  view, 
Nor  Broadway  did  the  Bowery  meet. 

When  this  old  house  was  new. 

"  Dire  Pestilence,  the  fiend  of  wrath, 

With  yellow,  withering  frown, 
Scattering  destruction  in  its  path, 

Oft  sadly  thinned  the  town. 
Terror,  dismay,  and  death  prevailed, 

With  mourners  not  a  few, 
Who  friends  and  relatives  bewailed 

When  this  old  house  was  new. 

"  The  smallpox,  too,  would  oft  assail  ; 

The  kinepox  was  not  known  ; 
Societies  did  not  prevail, 

Though  since  so  numerous  grown. 
We'd  no  Academy  of  Arts, 

And  schools  were  very  few, 
With  drawings,  pictures,  maps,  and  charts, 

When  this  old  house  was  new. 

"  We  had  no  licensed  coaches  then, 

Arranged  on  public  stands  ; 
We'd  not  two  boards  of  aldermen 

To  vote  away  our  lands. 
On  beef  and  venison  to  regale, 

With  turtle  at  Bellevue  ; 
They'd  take  their  crackers,  cheese,  and  ale 

When  this  old  house  was  new. 

"  No  Navy  Yard  and  no  Dry  Dock, 

No  City  Hall  in  Park, 
And  no  illuminated  clock 

To  light  us  after  dark. 
No  omnibuses  thronged  Broadway, 

And  ran  with  furious  heat 
Over  the  people,  night  and  day, 

Who  tried  to  cross  the  street. 


*  An  allusion  to  the  Cily  Prison  or  ''Tombs,"  which  was  completed  in  1838. 


390 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


The  construction  of  the  Halls  of  Justice  was  completed  in  the  year 
L838.  The  building  occupies  a  portion  of  the  site  of  the  old  Collect 
Pond,  a  sheet  of  fresh  water  lying  in  a  hollow  between  the  Bowerj  and 
Broadway,  and  receiving  the  drainage  of  the  surrounding  hills.  Its 
outlet  was  a  rivulet  that  flowed  through  oozy  land  (Lispenard's 
Meadow)  into  the  Hudson  River  along  the  route  of  the  present  Canal 
Street,  which  derives  its  name  from  that  circumstance. 

This  pond  was  filled  up  in  183(5,  and  the  present  building  of  the  Halls 
of  .Justice  was  erected  upon  the  site  in  the  course  of  two  years  after- 
ward. The  pond  for  a  time  seemed  to  be  bottomless.  An  immense 
quantity  of  stones  and  earth  was  thrown  into  it,  and  when  it  appeared 
tilled,  and  the  solid  matter  was  above  the  surface  of  the  water  at  even- 
ing, it  would  be  unseen  in  the  morning.  And  when  the  builders  of  the 
structure,  who  laid  the  foundations  much  deeper  than  usual,  began  to 
pile  up  the  blocks  of  granite,  there  was  at  one  time  such  evident  set- 
tling at  the  foundation  that  the  safety  of  the  building  seemed  in  peril. 
But  it  has  stood  well-nigh  half  a  century,  and  seems  to  rest  upon  a 
solid  foundation. 

Externally  the  Halls  of  Justice  building  is  entirely  of  granite,  and 
appears  as  one  lofty  story,  the  windows  being  carried  above  the  ground 
up  to  beneath  the  cornice.  It  is  thought  to  be  the  best  specimen  of 
Egyptian  architecture  out  of  Egypt.  The  main  entrance  is  in  Centre 
Street,  and  is  reached  by  a  flight  of  wide,  dark  stone  steps,  then 
through  a  spacious  but  dark  and  gloomy  portico,  calculated  to  impress 


1  The  wheels  of  State  had  fewer  cranks, 

All  turned  by  honest  men  ; 
And  we'd  no  crusade  'gainst  the  banks 

And  no  defaulters  then. 
Virtue  and  honesty  survived, 

Our  offices  were  few  ; 
Sub-treasuries  were  not  contrived 

When  this  old  house  was  new. 

'  We  had  no  lingering  Indian  wars 

To  drain  the  public  purse, 
And  Revolutionary  scars 

Were  healed  by  careful  nurse. 
We  had  no  quacks,  nor  hygeian  pills. 

Nor  steam  physician  then  ; 
No  gambling-shops,  nor  stepping-mills. 

Nor  Graham  regimen. 

•No  tinkers  of  the  currency 

Had  altered  bad  to  worse. 
For  healthy  infants  then,  you  see, 

Were  not  put  out  to  nurse. 
We  quarrelled  not  'bout  public  lands, 

For  they  were  wild  anil  new, 
As  everybody  understands, 

When  this  old  house  was  new. 


"  The  evil  days  have  come  at  last, 

In  which  few  joys  I  find  ; 
The  morning  of  ray  lite  is  past — 

I'm  lame,  and  almost  blind. 
The  keepers  of  the  house  now  shake 

As  palsied  porters  do, 
And  my  strong  limbs  obeisance  make 

Where  it  was  never  due. 

,:  The  smallest  weight  a  burden  seems, 
The  curbstone  is  too  high  ; 

How  different  from  my  former  dreams. 
When  I  could  almost  fly  ! 

My  sight  is  dim,  my  hearing  dull, 
For  music's  tones  decay  ; 

And  ah  !  this  dome — I  mean  my  skull- 
Is  thatched  with  silver  gray. 

"  But  though  my  sight  be  dull  and  dim, 

My  Saviour's  love  was  prized  ; 
In  youth  I  placed  my  hopes  in  Him, 

And  now  they're  realized. 
Yea,  though  He  slay  me,  still  I'll  trust  ; 

His  promises  are  true  ; 
Though  this  old  house  decay,  He  must 

Rebuild  it  good  as  new." 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


30: 


the  mind  of  the  unfortunate  prisoner  with  the  idea  that  "  who  enters 
here  leaves  hope  behind  "—a  sort  of  "  Bridge  of  Sighs."  It  was  this 
gloomy  aspect  of  the  building  that  gave  it  the  name  of  "  the  Egyptian 
Tombs" — the  Tombs — where  the  worst  felons  and  murderers  are  con- 
lined,  and  where  the  death-sentences  of  criminals  are  executed  in  the 
presence  of  the  limited  number  of  persons  required  by  law. 

Before  the  erection  of  the  Halls  of  Justice  there  were  five  public- 
prisons  in  the  city,  one  of  which  belonged  to  the  State.  These  were 
the  Debtors'  Prison  (now  the  Hall  of  Records),  east  of  the  City  Hall  ; 
the  Bridewell,  the  Penitentiary,  the  State  Prison,  and  the  House  of 
Refuge.  * 

The  Bridewell  or  old  City  Prison  was  devoted  to  the  temporary 
incarceration  of  prisoners,  where  they  were  held  until  discharged  as 
innocent  or  convicted  as  guilty  of  charges  preferred  against  them. 
The  building  was  constructed  of  stone,  and  consisted  of  a  central  edifice 
and  wings,  three  stories  in  height,  and  stood  between  the  west  end  of 
the  City  Hall  and  Broadway.  Its  affairs  Avere  directed  by  five  citi- 
zens, appointed  by  the  common  council,  with  the  title  of  Commission- 
ers of  the  Almshouse,  Bridewell,  and  the  Penitentiary  of  the  City  of 
JNew  York. 

The  Penitentiary  was  a  stone  building  at  Bellevue,  on  the  East 
River,  adjoining  the  almshouse.    It  has  already  been  described  in  a 

*  The  first  named  was  exclusively  devoted  to  the  confinement  of  prisoners  for  debt, 
whom  barbarous  laws  illogically  and  cruelly  incarcerated.  Well  did  Ked  Jacket,  the 
great  Seneca  chief,  illustrate  the  folly  and  injustice  of  the  imprisonment  of  a  debtor, 
when,  on  seeing  a  man  taken  to  prison  in  Batavia,  N.  Y..  he  inquired  what  his  crime  was. 

"He  is  in  debt  and  cannot  pay,"  answered  his  companion  in  the  street,  the  late  vener- 
able Mr.  Hosmer,  of  Avon,  who  was  the  first  lawyer  settled  west  of  Utica. 

"Why,  he  no  catch  beaver  there  !"  said  the  chief— he  could  not  work  in  jail  to  earn 
money  to  pay  his  debt.  So  this  "  son  of  the  forest"  illustrated  the  unwisdom  of  the 
law. 

Happily  such  a  law  no  longer  prevails  in  any  part  of  our  Republic.  The  State  of  New 
York  was  the  leader  in  adopting  measures  for  its  abolition  so  early  as  1831.  It  is  be- 
lieved that  one  of  the  most  powerful  instrumentalities  in  bringing  about  the  repeal  of 
laws  which  sent  debtors  to  prison  was  a  stirring  poem  written  by  the  gentle  Quaker  poet, 
John  G.  Whittier.  called  "  The  Prisoner  for  Debt,"  in  which  he  said  : 

"  Down  with  the  law  that  binds  him  thus  ! 

Unworthy  freemen,  let  it  find 
No  refuge  from  the  withering  curse 

Of  God  and  human  kind  ! 
Open  the  prisoner's  living  tomb, 
And  usher  from  its  brooding  gloom 
The  victims  of  your  savage  code 
To  the  free  sun  and  air  of  God  ; 
No  longer  dare  as  crime  to  brand 
The  chastening  of  th'  Almighty's  hand  !" 


398 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


notice  of  Bellevue  Hospital.  It  was  opened  in  May,  1 S 1 0,  and  was 
devoted  exclusively  to  the  confinement  of  such  persons  at  hard  labor  as 
should  be  convicted  at  the  Court  of  Sessions  of  petit  larceny  and  other 
offences,  and  of  vagrants.  Some  of  the  prisoners  were  employed  on  the 
roads  Oil  the  island,  or  in  garden  work  ;  others  in  house-work,  shoe- 
making,  tailoring,  and  whatever  other  employment  they  were  efficient 
in,  while  the  women  were  employed  in  the  kitchen,  or  in  making  and 
mending  the  clothes  of  their  fellow-prisoners. 

The  House  of  Refuge  for  the  Reformation  of  Juvenile  Delinquents 
had  its  origin  in  a  benevolent  movement  in  IS  IT,  in  which  John  Griscom, 
LL.D.,  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  was  the  chief  leader.  He 
was  the  pioneer  in  the  founding  of  the  Society  for  the  Prevention  of 
Pauperism.  In  this  society  his  most  earnest  coadjutors  were  Thomas 
Eddy  and  John  Pintard.  The  society  investigated  the  causes  of  pau- 
perism, studied  the  statistics  of  prisons  in  England  and  the  United 
States,  and  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  most  efficient  work  in  the 
enterprise  must  be  among  the  young  of  both  sexes. 

Late  in  some  benevolent  persons  formed  an  association  entitled 
The  Society  for  the  Reformation  of  Juvenile  Delinquents.  Into  this 
society  the  former  association  was  merged.  Measures  were  then  taken 
for  the  establishment  of  a  house  of  refuge  for  erring  or  criminal  youth, 
the  first  institution  of  the  kind  ever  founded.  A  charter  was  obtained 
in  1S2+,  and  in  the  old  arsenal  grounds,  on  the  site  of  Madison  Square, 
near  the  junction  of  Broadway  (then  known  as  the  Bloomingdale  Road 
at  that  point)  and  Fifth  Avenue,  two  stone  buildings,  two  stories  in 
height,  were  erected,  one  for  boys,  the  other  for  girls.  The  grounds 
were  surrounded  by  a  strong  stone  wall  inclosing  an  area  three  hundred 
by  three  hundred  and  twenty  feet  in  size,  and  seventeen  feet  in  height. 

The  House  of  Refuge  was  opened  on  the  first  of  January,  1825.  On 
that  occasion  there  appeared  before  a  large  and  respectable  audience, 
gathered  at  that  dreary  out-of-town  spot,  nine  wretched  "juvenile 
delinquents" — three  boys  and  six  girls — in  tattered  garments,  as  candi- 
dates for  the  reformatory.  They  were  the  first  of  nearly  one  hundred 
who  were  found  within  its  walls  during  the  first  year.  The  first  super- 
intendent was  the  late  Joseph  Curtis,  a  philanthropist  of  purest  mould, 
and  for  many  years  before  his  death  an  indefatigable  worker  in  the 
cause  of  free  schools  in  the  city  of  New  Fork. 

The  Refuge  remained  there  until  the  buildings  were  destroyed  by 
fire  in  1S3S,  soon  after  which  time  it  was  removed  to  Bellevue.  There 
it  continued  until  November,  1S54-,  when  it  was  removed  to  Randall's 
Island,  its  present  location. 


FIRST  DECADE,  18:10  1840. 


39!) 


According  to  the  fifty-eighth  annual  report  of  the  Society  for  the 
Reformation  of  Juvenile  Delinquents  (1S82),  there  had  been  received 
into  the  House  of  Refuge,  since  its  opening  in  1825,  2<V>2-1  juvenile 
delinquents,  and  that  the  weekly  average  number  of  inmates  during 
the  year  was  771.  Careful  inquiries  reveal  the  fact  that  intemperance 
is  not  a  prevailing-  vice  of  the  parents  of  these  delinquents,  nor  that 
their  delinquency  is  chargeable  to  their  being  orphans,  for  about  86  per 
cent  of  the  fathers  and  94  per  cent  of  the  mothers  were  temperate  peo- 
ple, and  correspondingly  few  of  the  children  had  lost  their  parents."* 

Randall's  Island  is  one  of  a  group  of  beautiful  and  picturesque  islands 
in  the  East  River  belonging  to  the  city  of  New  York.  It  contains 
about  one  hundred  acres  of  land. 

The  other  islands  of  the  group  alluded  to  are  Blackwell's  and  Ward's. 
1  Mack  well's  contains  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  and  was 
purchased  by  the  city  in  1828  for  $50,000.  It  has  a  heavy  granite  sea- 
wall, built  by  the  convicts.  Its  public  edifices  are  large  and  substan- 
tial, built  in  mediaeval  style  of  architecture,  with  turrets  and  battle- 
ments. The  buildings  are  of  stone  quarried  on  the  island  by  the  con- 
victs. Around  the  buildings  are  gardens  and  pleasant  shaded  grounds. 
On  this  island  are  a  penitentiary,  with  an  average  of  between  twelve 
hundred  and  thirteen  hundred  inmates  ;  a  correctional  workhouse,  a 
charity  hospital,  with  accommodations  for  eight  hundred  patients  ;  an 
almshouse,  a  lunatic  asylum  for  females,  an  asylum  for  the  blind,  a  hos- 
pital for  incurables,  and  a  convalescent  hospital.  The  houses  of  the  offi- 
cials are  pleasantly  situated  among  the  trees  on  the  island.  It  is  esti- 
mated that  the  entire  population  of  the  island  is  about  seven  thousand,  all 
under  the  care  of  the  commissioners  of  public  charities  and  correction. 

Randall's  Island,  as  we  have  observed,  contains  about  one  hundred 
acres  of  land.  It  is  divided  from  the  shore  of  Westchester  County  on 
the  north  by  a  narrow  channel  known  as  the  Harlem  Kills,  and  on  the 
south  from  Ward's  Island  by  Little  Hell  Gate.  It  contains,  besides 
the  House  of  Refuge,  an  idiot  asylum,  a  nursery,  children's  and  infants' 
hospital,  schools,  and  other  charities  provided  by  the  city  of  New  York 
for  destitute  children.  The  buildings  of  these  institutions  are  chiefly 
of  brick,  and  imposing  in  appearance.  The  island  is  pleasantly  shaded 
with  trees.  These  institutions  are  all  under  the  care  of  the  commis- 
sioners of  public  charities  and  correction. 

*  The  officers  of  the  society  for  1882-83  are  :  John  A.  Weeks,  president  :  Benjamin  B. 
Atterbnry,  James  M.  Halsted,  J.  W.  C.  Leveridge,  Edgar  S.  Van  Winkle,  John  J.  Town- 
send,  Alexander  MeL.  Agnew,  vice-presidents  ;  Nathaniel  Jarvis,  Jr.,  treasurer  ;  Frederick 
W.  Downer,  secretary  :  Israel  C.  Jones,  superintendent. 


400 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


On  the  southern  end  of  the  island  is  the  House  of  Refuge,  under  the 
care  of  the  Society  for  the  Reformation  of  Juvenile  Delinquents.  The 
two  principal  buildings  are  of  brick,  nearly  one  thousand  feet  in  length, 
in  the  Italian  style  of  architecture.  The  boys  and  girls  are  kept  sepa- 
rate, and  those  guilty  of  social  crime  apart  from  the  younger  inmates. 
Children  brought  before  magistrates  are  sentenced  by  them  to  this 
institution.  The  average  number  of  inmates  is  about  eio-ht  hundred. 
They  are  all  taught  to  work,  and  are  educated  in  the  common  English 
branches.  The  total  population  of  the  island  is  about  twenty-five 
hundred. 

"Ward's  Island  is  nearly  circular,  and  is  situated  near  the  junction  of 
the  East  and  Harlem  rivers.  It  is  the  largest  of  the  three  islands,  con- 
taining about  two  hundred  acres,  and  is  finely  wooded  in  some  parts. 
It  is  owned  partly  by  the  city  and  partly  by  individuals.  The  part 
belonging  to  the  city  is  apportioned  between  the  commissioners  of 
emigration  and  the  commissioners  of  public  charities  and  correction. 
Under  the  care  of  the  latter  is  an  insane  asylum  for  males  and  a 
homoeopathic  hospital  ;  under  the  charge  of  the  former  are  the  State 
Emigrant  Hospital,  a  lunatic  asylum,  houses  of  refuge,  and  a  nursery 
or  home  for  children.  In  these  institutions,  under  charge  of  the  com- 
missioners of  emigration,  sick  and  destitute  aliens  arriving  in  New 
York  are  cared  for. 

The  buildings  on  Randall's  Island  are  generally  plain  but  substantial 
structures  of  brick.  Those  erected  by  the  commissioners  of  emigra- 
tion are  noticeable  for  their  spaciousness  and  beauty,  being  built  of 
brick  and  gray  stone.  They  are  much  hidden  from  spectators  on  the 
water  by  line  old  trees.  The  lunatic  asylum  contains  an  average  of 
over  one  thousand  patients.  The  convicts  from  Blackwell's  Island  are 
const* i lit  1  \  cn^d^cd  in  tliG  ^  i\m1  ing  and  beautifying  of  Ward's  Island, 
and  in  constructing  a  sea-wall  around  it. 

These  three  islands  in  the  East  River  display  the  richest  fruit  of  the 
magnificent  public  charities  of  New  York  City. 

The  State  Prison  stood  near  the  bank  of  the  Hudson  River,  at  what 
was  then  known  as  Greenwich  Village,  and  about  a  mile  and  a  half 
north-west  of  the  City  Hall.  It  was  one  of  two  public  prisons  author- 
ized by  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York  in  the  closing  decade 
of  the  last  century.  One  was  to  be  erected  at  Albany,  and  one  at 
Xew  York. 

The  prison  at  Greenwich  Village  was  built  of  stone,  three  stories  in 
height,  and  surrounded  by  a  massive  stone  wall  fourteen  feet  high  in 
front  and  twenty  feet  high  in  the  rear,  where  the  workshops  were  sit- 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


401 


uated.  The  prison  and  its  appendages  covered  about  four  acres  of 
ground.  It  was  called  Newgate,  and  was  opened  for  the  reception  of 
prisoners  in  1797.  It  soon  became  crowded,  and  another  prison  was 
erected  by  the  State  at  Auburn,  Cayuga  County.  Of  the  convicts  in 
this  prison,  the  average  was  always  about  seventy  per  cent  of  foreign 
birth. 

The  rooms  in  this  prison  were  large,  and  several  convicts  occupied 
the  same  sleeping  apartment.  This  was  found  to  be  a  very  unwise 
arrangement,  as  it  had  a  powerful  tendency  to  a  further  corruption  of 
the  morals  of  the  inmates.  It  was  finally  deemed  wise  to  abandon 
this  prison  in  the  city  and  erect  another  and  more  spacious  further 
up  the  Hudson  River:  In  182.")  the  Legislature  authorized  the  erection 
of  a,  new  prison,  and  the  spot  selected  was  Mount  Pleasant  (Sing  Sing), 
on  the  Hudson,  in  Westchester  County.  The  foundations  of  this  new 
prison  were  laid  in  May,  1826,  and  it  was  completed  in  1S2X.  The  site 
was  selected  largely  because  it  was  in  the  vicinity  of  extensive  beds  of 
white  marble,  the  quarrying  of  which  would  give  profitable  employ- 
ment to  the  prisoners. 

A  powerful  impetus  to  the  growth  of  a  city  consists  in  facilities  for 
transporting  persons  or  merchandise  within  its  borders  to  and  from 
distant  points.  New  Yorkers  perceived  this  when  the  steamboat  ap- 
peared, the  Erie  Canal  was  completed,  the  omnibus  was  introduced, 
and  the  railway  made  its  advent  into  this  country.  Such  facilities  on 
the  island  would  greatly  increase  the  migration  of  population  from  the 
dense  precincts  of  business,  and  increase  the  value  of  real  estate  at 
remote  points  from  the  centre  of  trade.  Alert  New  Yorkers  readily 
joined  in  a  scheme  for  so  benefiting  the  city  by  building  a  railway  that 
would  bisect  Manhattan  Island  longitudinally,  but  extend  finally  to 
Albany. 

New  York  City  has  the  honor  of  introducing  to  the  world  the  system 
of  horse  railroads  in  city  streets,  that  of  the  New  York  and  Harlem 
Railroad  (Fourth  Avenue)  having  been  the  first  constructed. 

The  New  York  and  Harlem  Railroad  Company  was  incorporated  on 
the  25th  of  April,  1831,  with  authority  to  construct  a  double-track  road 
to  any  point  on  the  Harlem  River,  between  the  east  bounds  of  Third 
Avenue  and  the  west  bounds  of  Eighth  Avenue.*    The  capital  stock 

*  The  following  persons  were  the  incorporators  of  the  New  York  and  Harlem  Railroad 
Company  in  the  spring  of  1831  :  Benjamin  Bailey,  Mordecai  M.  Noah,  Benson  MacGowan. 
James  B.  Murray,  Charles  Henry  Hall,  Moses  Henriqnes,  Isaac  Adriance,  Thomas  Addis 
Emmet,  Gideon  Lee,  Silas  E.  Burrows,  Samuel  F.  Halsey,  Cornelius  Harsen,  Robert 
Stewart.    At  the  first  election  of  directors,  in  July,  1831,  John  Mason  was  elected  president. 


402 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


was  $1,100,000.  An  act  was  passed  the  next  year  authorizing  the  com- 
pany to  extend  the  track  along  the  Bowery  (now  Fourth  Avenue)  to 
Fourteenth  Street,  and  such  other  streets  as  the  city  authorities  might 
from  time  to  time  permit.  The  use  of  steam  as  a  motor  was  hrst  in- 
troduced in  1834  on  this  road — W.  T.  James,  the  machinist  of  the 
road,  being  the  inventor  of  the  first  steam-motor  for  city  railways. 

In  1833  the  common  council  passed  an  ordinance  authorizing  the 
company  to  lay  a  track  in  Broadway.  Rails  were  actually  laid  the 
distance  of  two  hlocks,  hut  there  was  so  much  opposition  to  the  meas- 
ure that  they  were  taken  up,  and  a  track  was  laid  down  to  Prince 
Street  and  the  Bowery.  A  portion  of  the  road  was  open  to  travel  in 
ISIV2.  The  conductors  were  boys,  and  they  were  required  to  report 
the  receipts  to  the  superintendent  once  a  week — every  Saturday  night. 
There  arose  a  suspicion  that  the  boys  were  "taking  toll."  A  liberal 
reward  was  offered  to  the  boy  who  should  report  the  largest  amount  of 
receipts  at  the  end  of  the  week.  The  result  was  a  very  large  increase 
in  the  receipts  returned  by  each  boy. 

The  introduction  of  a  street  railway  into  New  York  City  in  1831-32 
created  a  new  mechanical  business  m  the  metropolis— the  manufacture 
of  tramcars,  as  the  English  call  them,  for  the  use  of  such  roads.  In 
that  business  John  Stephenson  was  the  pioneer.  lie  had  recently 
finished  his  apprenticeship  to  a  coach -builder,  and  began  manufactur- 
ing omnibuses  for  Abraham  Brower  on  his  own  account,  when  he 
received  an  order  from  the  New  York  and  Harlem  Railroad  Company 
to  build  a  street-car  for  them.  Mr.  Stephenson  constructed  it  after  a 
design  of  his  own,  and  named  it  John  Mamn,  in  honor  of  the  first 
president  of  the  company  and  founder  of  the  Chemic  al  Hank. 

This  was  the  first  street-railway  car  ever  built.  It  was  made  to  hold 
thirty  passengers,  in  three  compartments.  The  driver's  seat  was  in 
the  roof,  and  it  had  passenger  seats  on  the  roof,  which  were  reached 
by  steps  at  each  end.  It  was  a  sort  of  cross  between  an  omnibus,  a 
rockaway,  and  an  English  railway  coach,  and  had  four  wheels.  This 
was  first  put  on  the  road  between  Prince  and  Fourteenth  streets,  on 
November  20,  1832,  carrying  the  president  of  the  road  and  the  mayor 
and  common  council  of  the  city  of  New  York.  For  this  car  Mr. 
Stephenson  received  a  patent  from  the  United  States  Government. 

Other  orders  from  the  same  company  soon  followed,  and  very  soon 
Mr.  Stephenson  was  employed  to  build  passenger-cars  for  railways  as 
they  rapidly  increased  in  numbers  and  extent  in  our  country.  These 
were,  at  first,  cars  with  four  wheels.  "When  eight-wheeled  cars  were 
introduced  by  Ross  AVinans,  of  Baltimore,  Mr.  Stephenson  found  it 


FIRST  DECADE.  1830  1840. 


403 


necessary  to  extend  his  premises.  In  L836  he  built  a  spacious  factory 
at  Harlem,  and  in  1S4I!  he  bought  the  land  on  Twenty-seventh  Street, 
near  Fourth  Avenue,  where  his  present  establishment  now  is,  and  built 
the  nucleus  of  the  factory  which,  with  its  lumber-yards,  covers  sixteen 
city  lots.  Mr.  Stephenson  has  continued  to  build  omnibuses  from  the 
beginning,  and  has  been  a  constructor  of  these  and  railway  cars  for  the 
space  of  fifty-three  years.  Now,  in  his  seventy-fifth  year,  he  is  vigorous 
in  mind  and  body. 

The  street-railway  car  is  a  purely  New  York  product.  It  was  in 
successful  operation  in  that  city  for  twenty-five  years  before  it  appeared 
m  any  other  city  of  the  Union  or  elsewhere.  George  Francis  Train 
introduced  a  street  railway  into  Birkenhead,  England,  in  1860,  and  also 
commenced  one  in  London.  It  bred  a  riot,  and  the  mob  tore  up  the 
rails.  Now  they  are  seen  in  all  civilized  countries,  and  the  John 
Stephenson  Company  manufacture  street-railway  cars  for  North  and 
South  America,  lor  Europe,  Asia,  Africa,  Australia,  and  isles  of  the 
sea. 

Mr.  Stephenson  (with  Mr.  Slawson)  is  the  inventor  of  the  "  bobtail  " 
or  one-horse  car,  now  so  popular.  They  were  first  introduced  into 
New  Orleans  just  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War,  but  only  since 
the  war  have  they  been  in  use  everywhere  in  the  United  States.* 

*  John  Stephenson  was  born  in  the  north  of  Ireland  on  July  4,  1809.  His  parents, 
James  Stephenson  and  Grace  Stuart,  of  English  and  Scotch  lineage,  had  settled  there. 
In  1811  they  came  to  New  York  with  John,  their  first-born,  who  received  an  academic; 
education  at  the  Wesleyan  Seminary  in  New  York.  His  father  designed  him  for  mercan- 
tile life,  but  his  proclivities  for  mechanics  changed  his  destiny  and  caused  him  to  be 
apprenticed  to  a  coachmaker.  At  his  majority  (1831)  he  set  up  business  for  himself, 
chiefly  as  a  maker  of  omnibuses,  then  a  new  business  in  the  city.  His  shop  was  adjoin- 
ing the  rear  of  Brower's  stables,  No.  G07  Broadway.  Here,  in  18:31,  he  designed  and  con- 
structed the  first  omnibus  built  in  New  York.  In  less  than  a  year  he  lost  all  his  property 
by  fire.  He  then  planted  his  business  in  Elizabeth  Street,  and  there  he  built  the  first 
street-railway  car.  He  transferred  his  business  to  Harlem  (Fourth  Avenue  and  One 
Hundred  and  Twenty-ninth  Street)  in  1830,  and  to  its  present  site  in  1S43,  then  a  rural 
district  of  the  city.  His  prosperous  course  in  railway-car  and  omnibus  building  has  been 
intimated  in  the  text  ;  and  now.  at  the  age  of  over  seventy-four  years,  he  is  actively 
engaged  at  the  head  of  the  most  extensive  establishment  of  the  kind  in  the  United  States. 

Mr.  Stephenson  is  an  earnest  working  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  as 
both  his  parents  were.  He  had  seven  sisters,  who  were  all  church  members.  About. 
1816  he  entered  a  Sabbath-school,  then  just  organized  by  Mrs.  Divie  Bethune,  Mrs.  Man- 
Mason,  and  others  ;  and  from  that  time  to  this  he  has  been  active  in  Sabbath-schools  in 
various  capacities.  He  has  now  (1883)  under  his  teaching  a  Bible-class  of  forty  mem- 
bers. He  is  passionately  fond  of  music.  He  was  a  performing  member  of  the  Sacred 
Music  Society,  which  about  fifty  years  ago  met  in  the  Chatham  Theatre  (then  Chapel), 
and  he  was  subsequently  an  active  member  of  the  Harmonic  Society.  He  Mas  for  forty 
years  leader  of  a  church  choir  of  forty  volunteer  singers,  chiefly  from  Sunday-school 


404 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


The  New  York  and  Harlem  Railroad  was  extended  to  Yorkville,  a 
suburban  village,  in  1837,  a  distance  of  about  five  miles.  Late  in  that 
year  it  bad  a  double  track  from  Prince  Street  to  Yorkville.  Its 
coaches  ran  at  intervals  of  fifteen  minutes  every  day  in  the  week.  The 
fare  for  each  passenger  was  twenty-five  cents.  The  road  was  extended 
down  the  Bowery  to  Walker  Street,  and  afterward  through  Broome, 
Centre  and  Chatham  streets  and  Park  Row  to  the  southern  end  of  the 
City  Hall  Park,  where  the  Post-Office  now  stands. 

Such,  in  brief,  is  the  genesis  of  the  first  horse-railroad  in  the  world. 
This  system  originated  in  the  city  of  New  York  about  fifty-two  years 
ago  ;  now  (1883)  there  are  twenty  fines  of  railway  traversing  the  city 
in  various  directions. 

As  the  New  York  and  Harlem  Railroad  was  the  first  of  the 
great  arteries  of  transportation  which  contributed  to  the  Life,  vigor, 
and  growth  of  the  city,  the  history  of  its  extension  toward  the 
political  capital  of  the  State  may  be  appropriately  given  in  a  few 
sentences. 

In  1837  the  widening  of  Fourth  Avenue  from  Thirty -fourth  Street 
to  Harlem  River  was  authorized,  and  the  extension  of  the  New  York 
and  Harlem  Railroad  into  the  open  country  beyond  the  Harlem  River 
was  speedily  begun. 

In  1835  the  company  was  authorized  to  convert  into  capital  stock  the 
amount  of  money  which  it  had  borrowed.  The  amount  of  the  capital 
stock  was  increased  from  time  to  time,  and  in  1849  amounted  to 
$1,000,000.  That  year  the  company  was  authorized  to  extend  the 
road  in  the  county  of  Westchester  beyond  the  Harlem  River,  to  build 
a  bridge  across  the  same,  and  to  connect  with  the  New  York  and 
Albany  Railroad.  In  1845  it  was  authorized  to  extend  its  road  through 
the  counties  of  Putnam,  Duchess,  and  Columbia.  The  road  was  com- 
pleted to  Chatham,  its  northern  terminus,  in  1S.V2. 

In  the  year  L859  the  company  was  authorized  to  run  horse-cars  to 
Forty-second  Street  and  up  Madison  Avenue  to  Seventy-ninth  Street  ; 
also  to  use  steam  on  Fourth  Avenue,  from  Forty-second  Street  to  the 
Harlem  River,  for  thirty  years. 

The  capital  stock  of  the  company  was  increased  to  $10,000,000  in 
1871,  and  in  1X72  the  great  Fourth  Avenue  improvements,  between 
Forty-second  Street  and  Harlem,  Avere  authorized.  The  actual  cost  of 
those  improvements  was  about  $6,500,000.    The  Grand  Central  Depot 

classes  which  he  had  trained.  He  has  in  his  library  a  rare  collection  of  musical  litera- 
ture. Mr.  Stephenson  was  for  over  twenty  years  a  public  school  trustee  in  the  Twenty- 
first  Ward. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


405 


was  constructed  in  1S70-71,  at  a  cost  of  about  $3,000,000,  including 
the  cost  of  the  land. 

A  greater  portion  of  the  stock  of  the  New  York  and  Harlem  Rail- 
road (as  well  as  the  New  York  Central  and  Hudson  River  Railroad,  to 
which  it  is  leased)  belongs  to  the  Yanderbilt  family.  Cornelius  Van- 
derbilt,* familiarly  known  as  "  the  Commodore,"  was  made  a  director 

*  Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  a  native  of  Staten  Island,  N.  Y.,  was  the  most  eminent  and 
successful  organizer  of  methods  of  transportation  by  steam  on  land  and  water.  His 
ancestors  were  among  the  earlier  settlers  on  Staten  Island.  The  original  members  of  the 
family  settled  in  Flatbush,  Long  Island,  and  held  a  high  social  position  as  persons  of 
wealth  and  public  spirit.  They  were  members  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church.  The 
first  of  the  family  who  settled  on  Staten  Island  was  Jacob,  who  made  his  residence  there 
about  1715.  He  was  the  great-grandfather  of  Cornelius.  The  latter  was  born  May  27, 
1794,  and  died  January  4,  1877.  The  famous  "  Rose  and  Crown"  tavern  on  Staten 
Island,  which  was  the  headquarters  of  General  Sir  William  Howe  in  the  summer  of  1776, 
belonged  to  the  Vanderbilt  family. 

The  place  of  Cornelius  Vanderbilt's  birth  is  claimed  by  several  places  on  Staten  Island 
— Port  Richmond,  various  houses  in  Stapleton,  and  two  or  three  in  the  interior  of  the 
island.  While  he  was  an  infant  his  parents  were  residents  of  Stapleton.  His  mother 
was  Thebe  Hand,  of  New  Jersey,  a  niece  of  Colonel  Hand  of  the  Revolution.  His  only 
inheritance  was  the  careful  training  of  his  mother,  a  vigorous  physical  constitution,  a 
clear  head,  sound  judgment,  and  indomitable  energy.  He  received  very  little  book 
learning  away  from  his  mother's  knee.  He  was  a  "  health}',  harum-scarum  lad,"  a  good 
oarsman,  an  expert  swimmer,  and  a  perfect  rider.  He  rode  a  race-horse  against  a  colored 
boy  in  a  race  when  he  was  six  years  of  age.  He  worked  on  the  farm,  sailed  the  boats  of 
his  father  (who  was  a  ferryman),  and  when  he  was  sixteen  years  of  age  he  earned  money 
enough  to  purchase  a  sail-boat  and  began  business  on  his  own  account  in  the  transporta- 
tion of  passengers  and  garden  "  truck"  to  and  from  New  York  City,  then  containing 
between  70,000  and  80,000  inhabitants.  In  the  same  line  of  business  largely,  Cornelius 
Vanderbilt,  at  the  close  of  an  active  life  of  about  sixty-seven  years,  had  accumulated  a 
fortune  estimated  at  $100,000,000.  Honestly  recognizing  his  duty  to  his  parents,  he  gave 
to  them  a  larger  portion  of  the  receipts  from  his  business  until  he  was  twenty-one  years 
of  age. 

During  the  war  of  1812  young  Vanderbilt's  boats  were  in  constant  demand  in  carrying 
soldiers  and  supplies  from  point  to  point  in  the  harbor.  In  this  public  service  his  per- 
sonal bravery  was  often  called  into  requisition.  The  business  was  very  remunerative. 
Meanwhile  he  had  married  his  cousin,  Sophia  Johnson,  in  1813,  a  sensible  and  practical 
young  woman.  He  had  been  able  to  become  the  owner  of  several  boats  of  larger 
capacity,  and  he  was  soon  the  acknowledged  head  of  the  local  transportation  business  of 
the  harbor.  He  also  extended  his  voyages  up  the  North  and  East  rivers,  engaging  in 
traffic  of  every  kind,  and  so  combining  the  merchant  and  the  navigator. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-three  years  Vanderbilt  had  accumulated  nearly  $10,000  in  addi- 
tion to  his  property  in  vessels.  At  that  time  (1817)  he  became  captain  of  a  small  steam- 
boat called  the  Afoiwe,  owned  by  a  wealthy  New  Jerseyman.  The  next  year  he  was  put 
in  command  of  a  larger  steamboat,  which  remained  over  night  at  New  Brunswick. 
Thither  he  removed  his  family,  and  became  the  successful  proprietor  of  a  hotel  there  for 
the  accommodation  of  travellers.  In  that  hotel  his  son  and  successor,  William  H. 
Vanderbilt,  was  born  in  1821.    Such  was  the  "  Commodore's"  introduction  to  the  steam- 


406 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


in  1858,  and  in  1864  he  was  chosen  president  of  the  corporation.  After 
his  death,  m  1877,  his  son,  William  H.  Vanderbilt,  was  elected  presi- 
dent, and  his  son  Cornelius  was  chosen  vice-president.  J.  H.  Rutter 
was  chosen  president  in  1883. 

boat  business,  in  which  he  so  profitably  engaged.  Alter  serving  twelve  years  he  pur- 
chased the  vessel  he  commanded  of  the  owner,  and  became  master  in  the  business  in  1829. 

During  the  next  twenty  years  Vanderbilt  built  steamboats,  established  opposition  lines 
to  various  monopolies,  and  drove  some  of  his  competitors  team  the  field.  It  was  during 
this  time  that  he  received  the  title  of  "  Commodore."  When  the  discoveries  of  gold  in 
California  caused  a  line  of  steamships  to  be  established  between  New  York  and  Panama, 
Vanderbilt  proceeded  to  form  an  opposition  line  to  San  Francisco  by  way  of  Nicaragua, 
having  first  obtained  valuable  charter  privileges  from  that  government.  The  Transit 
Company  was  formed.  Vanderbilt  constructed  first  class  Steamships  on  the  Atlantic  and 
Pacific  sides  of  the  isthmus,  and  a  semi-monthly  line  between  New  York  and  San  Fran- 
cisco was  put  into  operation  in  1851.  In  1853  Vanderbilt  sold  his  vessels  to  the  Transit 
Company. 

Mr.  Vanderbilt  was  now  a  very  rich  man,  and  in  1853  he  made  a  tour  of  European  ports 
iu  his  fine  steamship  North  Star,  with  his  family.  His  reception  everywhere  partook  of 
the  character  of  an  ovation.  His  voyage  occupied  about  four  months,  and  the  distance 
travelled  was  about  15,000  miles.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Choules,  a  Baptist  clergyman,  accom- 
panied them,  and  wrote  an  account  of  the  trip.  Mr.  Vanderbilt  afterward  established  a 
line  of  steamships  between  New  York  and  Havre,  building  a  number  of  superb  vessels 
for  the  purpose.  Among  them  was  the  \'n>nlerl>ilt,  which  cost  $800,000.  When,  in  180'2, 
his  country  was  iu  peril  and  in  distress  tor  want  of  means  lor  transportation,  he  gen- 
erously presented  to  his  government  this  magnificent  vessel  of  5000  tons  burden,  for 
which  patriotic  and  munificent  gift  Congress  thanked  him  in  the  name  of  the  nation. 
Mr.  Vanderbilt  had  then  disposed  of  all  his  ships.  He  had  been  the  owner  of  more  than 
one  hundred  water  craft,  from  his  hundred  dollar  sail-boat  to  his  $800,000  steamship. 

Mr.  Vanderbilt  now  turned  his  attention  to  railroad  matters  almost  exclusively,  and 
became  the  controlling  owner  of  the  Harlem,  the  Hudson  River,  and  the  New  York  Cen- 
tral railroads.  Iu  this  species  of  property  and  in  other  railroad  securities  he  chiefly 
"  operated.''  He  made  the  roads  which  he  managed  the  best  paying  and  the  best 
equipped  roads  in  the  country.  Under  his  direction  the  Grand  Central  Depot  at  Forty- 
second  Street,  and  the  vast  improvements  between  it  and  the  Harlem  River,  were  con- 
structed. His  financial  career  was  successful  until  the  last,  and  he  left,  as  we  have  said, 
property  valued  at  $100,000,000. 

In  August,  1808,  Mrs.  Vanderbilt,  one  of  the  noblest  of  women,  died.  Thirteen  chil- 
dren had  blessed  their  union.  In  August,  1809.  Mr.  Vanderbilt  married  Miss  Frances 
Crawford,  of  Mobile,  Alabama,  whose  devotion  to  and  religious  influence  over  her  hus- 
band was  most  salutary.  He  became  interested  in  the  ministrations  ot  Dr  Deems,  pastor 
of  the  Church  of  the  Strangers,  in  Mercer  Street,  and  when  the  church  edifice  was  sold  in 
1873  Mr.  Vanderbilt  bought  it  for  $50,000,  and  gave  it  to  the  minister  for  the  use  of  his 
congregation.  The  same  year  he  munificently  endowed  a  university  at  Nashville,  Ten- 
nessee, the  name  of  which  was  changed  to  Vanderbilt  University.  Subsequent  dona- 
tions by  him  made  his  aggregate  gifts  to  the  institution  $1,000,000. 

In  person  Mr.  Vanderbilt  was  erect  until  the  last.  In  his  diet  he  was  simple  and  even 
abstemious.  He  was  one  of  the  finest  specimens  of  manly  vigor  until  past  fourscore  years 
of  age.  His  equanimity  of  temper  was  remarkable,  and  at  the  age  of  eighty  years  the 
wear  and  tear  of  an  exceedingly  active  and  excitable  life  seemed  not  to  have  affected  him. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


ALMOST  simultaneously  with  the  invention  of  the  recording 
telegraph  in  the  city  of  Xew  York  was  the  discovery  of  the 
daguerreotype  process  of  producing  pictures,  which  began  a  wonderful 
revolution  in  the  arts  of  design  and  its  great  and  momentous  improve- 
ment by  citizens  of  Xew  York.  The  process  was  so  named  from  its 
discoverer,  L.  J.  M.  Daguerre,  a  French  scene  and  panorama  painter, 
born  in  1789,  and  who  died  in  1851.  He  was  the  inventor  of  the  dio- 
rama about  1822.  ' 

Daguerre  made  improvements  in  the  effect  of  pictures  by  the  skilful 
use  of  sunlight,  and  for  several  years  he  experimented  in  efforts  to  pro- 
duce fac-similes  of  pictures  and  other  objects  by  means  of  the  chemical 
action  of  sunlight  and  the  scientific  toy  known  as  the  camera-obscura. 
At  the  same  time  another  Frenchman,  X.  Niepce  was  making  similar 
experiments  for  the  same  purpose.  He  made  the  partial  discovery,  and 
late  in  1829  Daguerre  and  Niepce"  united  to  develop  and  perfect  it. 

After  the  death  of  Niepce,  in  1833,  Daguerre  prosecuted  his  experi- 
ments and  researches  alone,  and  made  such  great  improvements  in  the 
process  that  Niepce's  son  consented  that  the  discovery  and  invention 
should  be  known  as  Daguerre's,  instead  of  the  names  of  both,  as  had 
been  agreed. 

At  a  session  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences  in  January,  1839,  M.  Arago, 
the  eminent  French  philosopher,  announced  the  discovery.  Profound 
interest  was  at  once  excited.  This  was  intensified  by  the  exhibition, 
soon  afterward,  of  pictures  taken  from  statues  by  the  process.  In  the 
summer  of  the  same  year  Daguerre  offered  the  French  Government  to 
make  the  invention  public  for  an  annuity  of  four  thousand  francs  for 
Xiepce's  son,  and  the  same  amount  for  himself.  The  offer  was 
accepted,  and  the  sum  to  be  paid  to  Daguerre  was  increased  to  six 
thousand  francs  on  condition  that  he  should  also  make  public  the  secret 
method  of  producing  dioramas,  and  any  improvement  he  might  make  in 
the  daguerreotype.  Daguerre  was  also  made  an  officer  of  the  Legion 
of  Honor. 

At  the  time  of  this  wonderful  revelation,  Professor  Morse  was  in 


408 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Paris  seeking  official  recognition  for  his  more  wonderful  invention. 
Through  the  kindness  of  Mr.  Walsh,  the  American  consul  at  Paris, 
Morse  and  Daguerre  had  a  personal  interview,  and  exhibited  their 
respective  inventions  to  each  other.  Daguerre  promised  to  send  to 
Morse  a  descriptive  publication  he  was  to  make  so  soon  as  his  pension 
should  be  secured. 

Daguerre  kept  his  promise.  By  the  hand  of  M.  Segur  he  sent  a 
copy  of  his  pamphlet  to  Moi'se,  who  was  undoubtedly  the  first  recipient 
of  the  work  m  this  country.  It  contained  illustrative  diagrams,  and 
these  the  writer  of  these  pages  reproduced  for  Professor  Mapes's 
"American  Repository  of  Arts.  Sciences,  and  Manufactures/'  This 
was  in  the  autumn  of  1839.* 

Professor  Morse  took  the  description  and  drawings  to  George  W. 
Prosch,  an  instrument-maker  in  the  basement  of  Xo.  142  Nassau 
Street.  In  less  than  a  month  after  the  pamphlet  was  received,  or  in 
October,  1839,  the  instrument  was  finished,  and  the  first  daguerreotype 
ever  produced  in  the  United  States  was  by  Professor  Morse.  He 
placed  the  camera-obscura  on  the  steps  leading  down  to  Prosch's  shop, 
and  the  picture  taken  was  that  of  the  Prick  Church  (Dr.  Spring's)  and 
the  City  Hall.  In  the  foreground  was  a  hackney-coach  and  horses,  and 
the  driver  asleep  on  the  seat.    This  picture  was  a  great  curiosity. 

The  process  was  very  slow.    Dr.  John  W.  Draper  +  took  great  in- 

*  James  J.  Mapcs,  LL.D.,  a  practical  chemist,  was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York  in  May, 
1808,  and  died  in  Newark,  N.  J.,  in  January.  18(>f>.  He  was  a  man  of  varied  learning  and 
accomplishments,  with  a  genius  for  art,  a  love  for  science,  a  taste  for  mechanics,  and 
eminently  social  in  his  habits.  He  was  a  very  popular  and  highly  esteemed  citizen. 
He  was  a  professor  of  chemistry  and  natural  philosophy  in  the  National  Academy  of  the 
Arts  of  Design.  In  the  later  years  of  his  life  he  devoted  his  talents  to  the  pursuit  of 
agricultural  science,  with  great  success  as  a  farmer,  near  Newark.  Professor  Mapes 
edited  the  Woikimj  Farmer.  He  manufactured  a  fertilizer  called  "  nitrogenized  super- 
phosphate." His  lectures  and  essays  on  agriculture  and  cognate  sciences  were  exceed- 
ingly useful,  and  his  "  American  Repository  of  Arts,  Sciences,  and  Manufactures,"  in 
f.inr  volumes,  attest  his  industry  and  judgment. 

|  John  William  Draper,  M.D.,  LL.D.,  was  born  near  Liverpool,  England,  in  May, 
1 S 1 1  ;  was  educated  in  scientific  studies  in  the  University  of  London,  and  came  to 
America  in  1833.  At  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  he  continued  his  medical  and 
chemical  studies,  and  there  took  his  degree  of  M.D.  In  1830-39  he  was  professor  of 
chemistry,  natural  philosophy,  and  physiology  in  Hampden-Sidney  College,  Virginia. 
Dr.  Draper  was  connected,  as  professor,  with  the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York 
from  1830  until  his  death,  which  occurred  on  the  4th  of  January,  1882.  He  aided  in 
establishing  the  University  Medical  College,  of  which  he  was  appointed  professor  of 
chemistry  in  1841.  From  18.30  he  was  president  of  the  medical  faculty  of  the  University 
until  his  death.  In  1874  he  was  chosen  president  of  the  scientific  department  of  the 
institution. 

Dr.  Draper  was  one  of  the  most  patient,  industrious   careful,  and  acute  scientific 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


409 


terest  in  the  discovery,  and  believed  in  its  great  possibilities.  He  and 
Morse  experimented  together.  There  seemed  hardly  a  possibility  of 
taking  a  picture  of  the  human  form  without  some  material  modifications 
of  the  process.  The  first  thing  of  importance  was  to  get  a  good  work- 
ing achromatic  lens,  and  the  second,  chemicals  more  sensitive  to  the 
action  of  light  than  iodine,  which  Daguerre  had  used  in  preparing  the 
plates.  To  this  end  Dr.  Draper  brought  his  knowledge  of  chemistry 
and  the  property  of  light  to  bear,  and  succeeded.  He  took  the  first 
portrait  from  the  living  human  face  with  the  eyes  open  by  the  daguer- 
rian  process. 

Meanwhile  Professor  Morse  had  been  experimenting.  From  a 
window  of  the  University  he  took  a  fair  picture  of  the  tower  of  the 
Church  of  the  Messiah,  on  Broadway,  and  surrounding  buildings,  on  a 
plate  the  size  of  a  playing-card.  Afterward,  in  a  studio  which  he  and 
Professor  Draper  had  erected  on  the  roof  of  the  University,  he  suc- 
ceeded in  taking  likenesses  from  the  human  figure.  The  process  was 
so  slow  it  took  nearly  fifteen  minutes  at  a  sitting,  and  the  subject  had 
to  have  the  eyes  closed.  In  this  way  he  took  the  likeness  of  his 
daughter  and  a  young  lady  (his  kinswoman,  whom  he  afterward  mar- 
ried, and  who  survives  him),  who  sat  with  their  bonnets  on  and  their 
eyes  closed.  This  picture  and  others  taken  at  the  time  are  in  the  pos- 
session of  Vassar  College,  at  Poughkeepsie.  The  discovery  of  Professor 
Draper,  in  the  autumn  of  1839,  greatly  facilitating  the  process,  is  the 
real  beginning  of  the  wonderful  and  useful  art  now  known  as  photog- 
raphy, the  legitimate  offspring  of  the  daguerreotype  invention. 

Operators  immediately  appeared.  Prosch,  who  made  the  first 
daguerreotype  instrument,  opened  the  first  daguerrian  gallery  on 
the  corner  of  Broadway  and  Liberty  Street,  and  his  first  sitter  was 
Professor  Charles  E.  West,  of  the  Rutgers  Female  Institute.  The 
sunlight  was  reflected  full  on  his  face  by  a  mirror  suspended  outside 

investigators.  His  industry  in  experimental  researches  was  marvellous,  and  his  publica- 
tions through  various  vehicles  on  scientific  subjects  are  very  voluminous.  To  him  is 
ilne  the  knowledge  of  many  fundamental  facts  concerning  the  phenomena  of  the  spec- 
trum, of  light  and  heat.  His  researches  materially  aided  in  developing  the  great  dis- 
covery of  Daguerre.  In  187fi  the  Rum  ford  gold  medal  was  bestowed  upon  him  by  the 
American  Academy  of  Sciences  for  his  researches  in  radiant  energy. 

Dr.  Draper  was  equally  industrious  in  researches  and  expositions  in  other  departments 
of  learning.  His  "  History  of  the  Intellectual  Development  of  Europe,"  "  Thoughts  on 
the  Future  Policy  of  America,"  "  Philosophical  History  of  the  Civil  War  in  America," 
and  "  History  of  the  Conflict  between  Science  and  Religion,"  are  all  works  which 
attest  his  profundity  of  knowledge,  philosophical  tone  of  mind,  and  grasp  of  intellect- 
ual forces. 


410 


HISTORY  OP  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


the  window.  One  of  the  most  successful  of  the  early  operators  was 
A.  S.  Wolcott,  who  had  his  establishment  on  the  corner  of  Broadway 
and  Chambers  Street. 

The  honor  given  Dr.  Draper  has  been  claimed  by  others,  but  with- 
out substantial  proof  of  correctness.  Dr.  Draper  lirst  gave  an  account 
of  his  improvement  in  a  note  to  the  editor  of  the  London  Philosophical 
Magazine,  in  March,  1840,  in  which  he  announced  that  he  had  proven 
it  to  be  possible,  by  photogenic  process,  such  as  the  daguerreotype,  to 
obtain  likenesses  from  life. 

The  daguerreotype  process  was  soon  succeeded  by  the  photographic 
process  ;  indeed  the  latter  speedily  superseded  the  former  altogether  in 
the  production  of  sun-pictures,  because  the  images  made  by  it  were 
capable  of  indefinite  multiplication  from  the  original  or  "  negative," 
as  it  is  termed,  which  is  on  glass. 

Wedgwood  and  Sir  Humphry  Davy,  in  experimenting,  had  been 
successful  in  making  "  negatives1'  on  leather  imbued  with  a  solution  of 
nitrate  of  silver  and  exposing  it  under  the  images  of  a  magic-lantern 
slide.  But  these  images  were  evanescent,  and  their  experiments  were 
useless. 

So  early  as  1S35  Dr.  Draper  began  a  series  of  papers  in  the  Journal 
of  tin  Fnt  nil  in  Institute  on  the  subject  of  photogenic  methods.  In  his 
experiments  thus  reported  he  had  used  bromide  of  silver  and  other  com- 
pounds much  more  sensitive  to  light  than  any  that  had  hitherto  been 
used  The  discoveries  of  Daguerre  and  Niepce,  publicly  announced  in 
183!>,  aroused  the  attention  of  scientists  to  the  subject  of  photogeny, 
and  in  England  "William  H.  Talbot,  who  had  made  the  discovery  of  a 
method  for  photographing  on  paper  in  1833  or  1834,  at  once  announced 
a  process  which  he  called  Oalotype  or  photogenic  writing.  It  was  also 
called  Talbotype.  It  consisted  essentially  in  covering  a  sheet  of  paper 
with  a  changeable  salt  of  silver,  exposing  it  on  a  camera,  and  develop- 
ing the  latent  image  by  a  solution  of  gallic  acid.  The  result  was  a 
"  negative"— that  is,  a  photograph  in  which  the  light  sand  shadows 
answer  respectively  to  the  shadows  and  lights  of  the  original.  These 
negatives  are  now  made  on  plate  glass.  It  had  the  advantage  over 
Daguerre's  process,  that  it  was  capable  of  multiplication  ;  yet  the 
daguerreotype  had  an  advantage,  which  it  has  to  the  present  day — 
namely,  its  images  were  exquisitely  defined  and  sharp,  and  given  with 
microscopic  minuteness. 

Since  the  introduction  of  the  photograph,  vast  and  valuable  improve- 
ments have  been  made  in  its  methods  and  products,  not  only  in  beauty 
but  in  permanence  ;  and  to-day  it  is  playing  a  most  important  part  in 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


411 


the  realm  of  the  fine  arts,  in  literature,  in  science,  the  useful  arts,  and 
in  common,  every-day  life.  Photography  is  now  followed  by  thou- 
sands and  tens  of  thousands  as  an  industrial  pursuit,  and  enters  largely 
into  literary  productions  and  various  processes  of  the  graphic  art. 

Among  the  living  and  active  photographers  in  the  city  of  Xew  York, 
Mr.  C.  D.  Fredricks  and  Mr.  William  Kurtz  have  possibly  done  more 
to  develop  the  advantages  and  illustrate  the  true  character,  mission, 
and  infiuence  of  the  art  than  any  of  their  compeers.  Mr.  Fredricks 
may  properly  be  classed  as  a  veteran  and  a  benefactor  of  the  photo- 
graphic art.  His  earlier  life  was  an  eventful  one,  and  the  outline  of  it, 
which  is  given  below,  is  full  of  hints  for  a  romance.* 

*  Mr.  Fredricks  waa  born  in  the  city  of  Xew  York  in  1823.  When  he  was  a  lad  his 
father  sent  him  to  Havana,  where  he  remained  a  year  and  acquired  a  knowledge  of  the 
Spanish  language,  which  was  afterward  of  great  service  to  him.  On  his  return  he  in- 
tended to  complete  his  collegiate  studies,  but  the  financial  crash  of  1837  swept  away  his 
father's  fortune,  and  young  Fredricks  was  compelled  to  seek  some  occupation  for  a 
livelihood.  With  a  South  Street  mercantile  firm  he  was  engaged  about  two  years,  when 
he  entered  the  banking-house  of  Cammann  tt  Whitehouse,  in  Wall  Street. 

Fredricks  bad  a  brother  in  Venezuela.  Having  received  from  him  glowing  accounts 
of  business  prospects  in  that  country,  and  slinmlated  by  a  love  of  adventure  and  the 
expectation  of  speedily  winning  a  large  fortune  there,  he  purchased  an  assortment  of 
goods  suitable  to  that  market,  and  with  $400  cash— his  whole  fortune  at  that  time— he 
sailed  for  Angostura  in  1843.  He  had  wisely  reflected  that  the  bright  dream  might  pos- 
sibly prove  delusive,  that  he  might  lose  his  venture,  and  before  he  started  he  received 
some  lessons  in  daguerreotyping  from  Mr.  J.  Gurney,  the  knowledge  of  which  might  be 
a  resource  to  fall  back  upon  in  case  of  a  failure  of  his  mercantile  operation.  He  took 
with  him  a  complete  daguerreotype  apparatus  and  a  small  stock  of  plates. 

At  Angostura  Fredricks  went  through  the  usual  process  of  paying  duties  on  his  goods, 
but  when  the  custom-house  officer  came  to  his  daguerreotype  instrument  he  was  puzzled. 
He  had  never  seen  nor  heard  of  such  a  thing  before,  and  he  refused  to  let  it  pass  unless 
Mr.  Fredricks  woidd  pay  a  heavy  duty  on  it.  This  he  would  not  do.  and  was  making 
arrangements  to  reship  it  to  Xew  York,  when  a  singular  circumstance  changed  his  plans, 
and  perchance  his  whole  subsequent  career. 

Mr.  Fredricks  was  the  guest  of  the  principal  merchant  of  Angostura.  While  he  was 
making  arrangements  for  sending  his  goods  up  the  river  to  San  Fernando  where  his 
brother  resided,  a  child  of  his  hospitable  friend  died.  One  of  the  merchant's  clerks 
had  informed  his  employer  of  the  nature  of  Mr.  Fredricks's  daguerreotype  instrument, 
and  of  its  detention  at  the  custom-house.  The  merchant  went  immediately  to  the  latter, 
paid  the  duty  demanded,  and  had  the  apparatus  sent  to  the  room  of  his  guest.  He  then 
asked  Mr.  Fredricks  to  take  a  picture  of  his  dead  child.  Though  rather  doubting  his 
ability  to  make  a  satisfactory  likeness,  he  said,  "  I'll  try." 

Information  of  the  intended  operation  spread  over  the  town,  and  at  the  hour  appointed 
the  room  was  filled  with  the  principal  inhabitants  of  Angostura  to  witness  the  event. 
The  operation  was  perfectly  successful.  The  people  were  astonished.  Few  had  even 
heard  of  the  great  discovery,  and  none  had  seen  its  work.  The  operator  received  the 
most  tempting  offers  to  induce  him  to  stay  and  take  the  likenesses  of  everybody.  He  did 
so.    He  sent  his  goods  up  the  river  to  the  care  of  his  brother,  and  in  three  weeks  he 


412 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


After  long  and  varied  experience  in  the  business  of  photography,  as 
set  forth  in  the  subjoined  foot-note,  Mr.  Fredricks,  on  returning  to  the 
city  of  Xew  York  from  Paris  in  1853,  formed  a  partnership  with  Mr. 

earned  $4000  with  his  daguerreotype  instrument.  Then  he  sent  to  New  York  for  a  large 
supply  of  materials.  While  waiting  for  their  arrival  he  went  up  to  San  Fernando,  ex- 
changed his  goods  for  hides,  which  he  shipped  to  New  York,  and  returning  to  Angostura 
he  proceeded  to  visit  the  islands  of  Tobago  and  St.  Vincent,  where  he  was  very  success- 
ful in  his  new  profession. 

Mr.  Fredricks  desired  to  go  to  Brazil,  but  there  was  no  coastwise  conveyance  from 
Angostura,  to  which  place  he  had  returned  There  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  gov- 
ernor of  the  province  of  Rio  Negro  (a  wild  country  inhabited  by  many  Indian  tribes), 
who  suggested  a  plan  of  going  up  the  Orinoco  River  and  down  the  Amazon.  He  guaran- 
teed to  Fredricks  thousands  of  dollars'  worth  of  Indian  portraits.  He  also  agreed  to 
forward  Mr.  Fredricks  and  his  brother,  who  accompanied  him.  to  Brazil.  The  journey 
was  undertaken,  and  a  series  of  wild  and  dangerous  adventures  was  experienced.  The 
journey  consumed  nine  months. 

Ascending  the  Orinoco  in  a  big  canoe,  with  Indian  attendants,  they  came  to  the  rapids 
of  Maypures,  where  the  Indians  unloaded  the  vessel  in  order  to  carry  it  and  its  contents 
to  still  water  above.  The  brothers  occupied  a  hut  that  night.  In  the  morning,  to  their 
dismay,  they  found  the  Indians  were  all  gone,  with  the  canoe  and  the  provisions  !  After 
suffering  twenty  days  from  hunger,  fever  and  ague,  swarms  of  biting  insects,  and  dangers 
from  alligators  and  venomous  snakes,  they  were  picked  up  by  some  government  officials 
and  soldiers  from  Caracas,  and  taken  to  the  mouth  of  the  Amazon,  where  they  embarked 
lor  New  York,  to  recruit  their  strength. 

Love  of  adventure  and  a  hope  of  gain  took  Fredricks  back  to  Para  the  next  year, 
where  he  established  a  gallery,  and  was  very  successful.  He  visited  other  places  with 
equal  success.  After  a  flying  visit  to  New  York  he  went  back,  visited  Bahia,  Rio  de 
Janeiro,  and  other  places.  He  crossed  the  province  of  Rio  Grande  in  company  with 
Edward  Hopkins  and  George  A.  Braudreth  (a  son  of  Dr.  Brandreth),  of  New  York,  who 
were  on  their  way  to  Paraguay.  They  transported  their  baggage  in  an  ox-cart,  stopping 
long  enough  at  each  village  to  take  the  likenesses  of  the  principal  inhabitants.  Coin 
being  scarce,  a  horse  was  generally  given  in  exchange  for  each  picture,  and  at  the  end  of 
the  journey  our  photographer  appeared  in  patriarchal  style,  surrounded  by  an  immense 
drove  of  horses,  which  he  sold  for  $:1  each. 

At  San  Borja  Fredricks  met  Bonpland,  the  celebrated  naturalist  and  the  companion 
of  Humboldt.  With  this  traveller  he  embarked  in  a  small  boat  to  descend  the  river  to 
Montevideo  and  Buenos  Ayres.  On  the  way  Bonpland  paid  a  visit  to  the  governors  of 
Corrientes  and  Entre  Rios  One  of  them  desired  Fredricks  to  take  his  likeness.  He 
asked  Bonpland  what  remuneration  he  should  make  the  artist 

■'  None  whatever,"  said  the  traveller  ;  "  it  is  a  compliment  to  your  Excellency." 

This  did  not  satisfy  the  governor,  and  as  the  travellers  were  about  to  leave  the  shore, 
some  Indians  came,  leading  a  large  tiger,  which  they  chained  securely  in  the  bow  of  the 
boat,  saying,  "A  present  from  the  governor  to  the  young  American."  This  was  to  pay 
for  the  daguerreotype  of  the  governor  What  to  do  with  the  animal  was  a  serious  ques- 
tion ;  it  would  not  do  to  decline  to  receive  it  Bonpland  was  in  mortal  fear  of  the  animal. 
It  was  harmless,  however,  and  died  at  Buenos  Ayres. 

Fredricks  returned  to  New  York  in  185:5  and  proceeded  to  Paris,  where  the  photographic 
art  was  much  inferior  in  its  development  to  the  art  in  New  York.  There  he  made  a 
great  advance  in  the  art,  taking  portraits  life  size  and  finishing  them  with  crayons.  He 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840.  413 

Gurney,  a  skilful  operator.  They  were  together  about  ten  years, 
when,  in  1S55,  Mr.  Fredricks  opened  a  large  photographic  gallery  on 
Broadway,  opposite'  the  Metropolitan  Hotel,  with  a  corps  of  French 
artists  whom  he  had  brought  from  Paris,  and  introduced  photography 
on  a  grand  scale,  making  life-size  portraits.  There  he  remained  twenty 
years,  until  burned  out  in  1*7<;,  when  he  removed  to  his  present  quar- 
ters, Xo.  770  Broadway.  In  1857  Mr.  Fredricks  married  Miss  Marie 
Laura  Barron,  and  has  five  children. 

It  has  been  asserted  that  only  a  fixed  proportion  of  the  population 
has  an  inborn  taste  for  the  fine  arts,  and  that  the  widespread  demand 
for  art  productions  now  observed  in  the  city  of  New  York,  as  else- 
where, indicates  only  the  increase  in  the  numbers  of  the  population. 
This  theory  does  not  seem  to  be  sustained  by  tacts.  Fine-art  produc- 
tions placed  before  the  public  have  certainly  multiplied  the  lovers  of 
art  in  much  greater  proportion  than  the  increase  of  population,  in  a 
given  time,  than  ever  before,  either  by  creating  a  taste  or  developing  a 
taste  for  the  fine  arts  in  individuals.  In  this  good  work  Mr.  Kurtz, 
one  of  the  leading  photographers  of  New  York  City,  has  borne  and  is 
bearing  a  conspicuous  pail. 

Mr.  Kurtz  is  a  German  by  birth,  having  been  born  in  a  village  in 
the  Grand  Duchy  of  Darmstadt,  in  May,  1834,  where  he  received  a 
common-school  education.  He  was  the  eldest  of  seven  children.  His 
father  dying  when  he  was  fourteen  years  of  age,  his  mother  placed 
him  as  a  clerk  with  a  merchant  at  Frankfort-on-the- Mam.  The  busi- 
ness was  distasteful  to  him,  for  he  had  a  taste  and  talent  for  art,  and 
he  was  a  failure  as  a  merchant's  clerk.  At  the  end  of  two  years  he 
was  apprenticed  to  a  lithographer  at  Offenbach  for  four  years.  The 
story  of  his  subsequent  career  is  interesting.* 

was  the  first  who  made  photographs  of  this  kind.  He  remained  in  Paris  about 
six  months,  when,  believing  that  the  novelty  of  life  size  portraits  painted  by  French 
artists  would  he  very  popular  and  become  a  profitable  business  in  New  York,  he  deter- 
mined to  establish  himself  permanently  in  that  city. 

*  At  twenty  years  of  age  young  Kurtz  was  drafted  into  the  infantry  service  at  Worms, 
and  leaving  Germany  joined  the  British-German  Legion  and  engaged  in  the  Crimean 
war.  At  the  conclusion  of  peace  he  went  to  London  and  unsuccessfully  sought  employ- 
ment as  a  lithographer.  He  became  a  teacher  of  drawing  and  foreman  in  a  carmine 
factory  The  financial  revulsion  in  1857  deprived  him  of  employment,  and  he  went  to 
sea  as  a  green  sailor  before  the  mast,  making  several  voyages.  Finally,  while  on  a  voyage 
from  England  to  California  with  a  cargo  of  coal,  his  vessel  was  wrecked  below  the  equa- 
tor. The  crew  were  picked  up  by  an  English  ship  bound  for  Calcutta.  They  were 
speedily  transferred  to  an  American  ship  bound  for  Hampton  Roads.  Virginia.  From 
that  port  he,  with  other  seamen,  went  to  the  Sailors'  Snug  Harbor  in  New  York,  in 
Christmas  week,  1859.    When  he  arrived  there  he  had  just  ten  cents  in  his  monkey- 


4:14  HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY 

Great  changes  in  the  localities  of  business  centres  were  begun  in  this 
decade.  AVe  have  already  noticed  the  localities  of  groups  of  various 
kinds  of  business  previous  to  the  year  1S30,  and  the  first  migrations 
from  these  groups. 

The  great  fire  in  December,  1S35,  caused  a  much  greater  migration, 
especially  in  one  branch  of  business,  than  had  yet  been  seen.  The 
locality  of  that  fire,  as  we  have  observed,  was  the  chief  centre  of  the 
wholesale  dry-goods  business.  The  smitten  district  was  soon  rebuilt 
with  far  superior  structures,  but  the  inordinate  demands  of  the  owners 
for  rent  caused  the  former  occupants  to  push  across  Wall  Street. 

jacket.  While  tarrying  there  he  saw  in  a  New  York  paper  an  advertisement  for  an  artist 
to  retouch  photographs  at  an  establishment  in  the  Bowery.  He  went  to  the  city,  and 
was  employed  there. 

When  the  Civil  War  broke  out  in  18G1,  Mr.  Kurtz  took  the  preliminary  steps  toward 
becoming  a  naturalized  citizen.  He  left  the  city  with  the  Seventh  Regiment  National 
Guard,  for  Washington,  and  remained  with  it  in  the  capacity  of  sergeant  until  the  expira- 
tion of  its  term  of  enlistment— three  months.  In  1803  he  took  charge  of  the  artistic 
department  of  a  Broadway  gallery,  and  the  next  year  he  married  Miss  Clotilde  Raefle. 
In  1865  he  started  a  photographic  gallery  of  his  own  far  up  Broadway,  where  Lord  & 
Taylor's  store  now  is,  and  in  the  same  year  he  introduced  the  carbon  process,  which 
renders  photographs  altogether  unalterable  in  the  air.  He  also  introduced  porcelain 
miniatures.  At  the  annual  lair  of  the  American  Institute,  held  in  the  autumn  of  18G5, 
he  received  the  first  medal  of  that  institution  lor  superior  photographs. 

In  1866  Mr.  Kurtz  made  a  revolution  in  photography  by  introducing  the  "  Rembrandt 
effect, "  which  method  has  been  adopted  at  all  the  chief  photographic  galleries  of  the 
world.  In  1870  he  received  at  the  Paris  Exposition  the  first  premium  for  superior 
photographs.  It  was  the  first  medal  that  ever  came  to  the  United  States  as  a  premium 
for  photographs.  At  the  Vienna  Exhibition  in  1873  he  received  the  first  and  greatest 
awards  for  portraits  -the  Medal  of  Progress  and  the  Medal  of  Art  (medal  for  good  taste) 
combined. 

In  1874  Mr.  Kurtz  opened  the  Kurtz  Gallery,  on  Madison  Square,  a  model  building  for 
the  exhibition  of  photographs  and  productions  in  every  other  department  of  art.  He 
invested  $130,000  in  that  building  and  its  equipment.  The  next  year  he  introduced  the 
"  transfer  crayon"  portraits,  which  abolish  crayon  drawings  on  photographic  bases. 
The  process  he  kept  secret.  In  187<J  his  name  was  first  mentioned  by  the  jurors  at  the 
Centennial  Exhibition  at  Philadelphia,  in  their  report,  "  for  general  artistic  excellence 
in  all  styles  of  portrait  photography,  plain,  crayon,  oil.  and  pastel,  and  for  a  new  process 
of  making  durable  crayons."  He  was  the  only  artist  whose  crayon  drawings  were 
admitted  as  "works  of  art''  to  Memorial  Hall  (where  photographs  were  excluded)  by  a 
committee  of  eminent  artists.  Orders  for  his  crayon  drawings  have  been  received  from 
Paris  and  other  cities  of  Europe. 

In  1880  Mr.  Kurtz  had  received  letters-patent  for  the  "  vibrotype, "  an  improvement  of 
the  old  way  of  taking  photographic  pictures  ;  also  for  the  "  conigraph,"  an  invention  for 
a  variety  of  uses  for  artists  who  work  on  paper.    The  latter  was  patented  in  France. 

Mr.  Kurtz  has  filled  the  offices  of  president  of  the  German  Photographic  Society,  vice- 
president  of  the  American  Photographic  Society,  and  president  of  the  Palette  Art  Associ- 
ation. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


415 


They  made  Pine,  Cedar,  and  Liberty  streets  the  great  centre  of  the 
wholesale  dry -goods  trade.  Gradually  firm  after  firm  ventured  upon 
Broadway  in  the  lower  part.  In  lS-iu  a  wholesale  store  on  Broadway, 
half  a  mde  from  the  Battery,  was  unknown.  The  centre  of  business 
was  then  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  the  Battery.  When  a  venture- 
some merchant  opened  a  wholesale  store  on  the  site  of  old  Grace 
Church,  on  the  corner  of  Rector  Street  and  Broadway,  conservative  and 
cautious  men  said,  *'  Too  high  up!" 

But  the  omnibuses  and  the  citv  railroads  soon  wrought  a  change  in 
business  and  domestic  arrangements.  These  made  transportation  to  a 
distance  of  two  or  three  miles  easier  than  foot  travel  a  distance  of  half 
a  mile,  and  enabled  the  merchant  and  professional  man,  the  mechanic 
and  the  common  laborer,  to  have  their  homes  more  remote  from  their 
respective  places  of  employment.  The  families  of  merchants  left  the 
often  inconvenient  and  undesirable  quarters  over  the  stores  for  more 
spacious  and  comfortable  dwellings,  where  they  could  enjoy  more  light 
and  air.  The  city,  containing  in  1846  nearly  313,000  inhabitants, 
rapidly  spread  out  in  fan-like  shape,  with  the  City  Hall  Park  as  the 
base,  at  which  point  several  of  the  railways  still  radiate.  At  that 
period  the  streets  above  Fourteenth  were  rapidly  filling  up  with  dwell- 
ings, and  very  small  stores  and  shops  for  the  supply  of  local  wants. 

From  that  period  extensive  retail  stores  rapidly  multiplied  on  Broad- 
way below  Canal  Street,  and  some  speedily  appeared  above  that  point. 
The  first  of  these  retail  stores  which  finally  expanded  its  enormous 
proportions  and  continued  to  our  day  was  that  of  Alexander  T.  Stewart, 
who,  at  the  time  of  his  death  in  1ST*),  was  the  most  extensive  and 
probably  the  wealthiest  merchant  on  the  earth. 

Mr.  Stewart  Avas  of  Scotch-Irish  descent.  He  was  born  in  1803,  at 
a  little  town  six  miles  from  Belfast,  Ireland.  Left  an  orphan  under 
the  care  of  his  grandfather,  who  was  a  Methodist,  at  the  age  of  eight 
years,  he  was  educated  with  a  view  to  the  ministry.  Before  he  had 
graduated  from  Trinity  College  his  grandfather  died,  and  he  was  left 
without  a  known  relative  in  the  world.  He  left  the  college  with  hon- 
ors, and  at  the  age  of  twenty  years  came  to  America. 

Mr.  Stewart  landed  at  the  Battery  in  1823.  His  guardian  was  a 
Friend  or  Quaker,  and  he  gave  Stewart  letters  of  introduction  to  some 
of  his  coreligionists  in  New  York.  Being  a  fair  linguist  and  well  edu- 
cated, Stewart  obtained  a  situation  in  a  public  school.  He  was  also  a 
teacher  of  penmanship  for  a  while,  and  one  of  his  pupils  in  that  art  was 
the  late  Fletcher  Harper,  of  the  firm  of  Harper  6c  Brothers. 

A  seeming  trivial  circumstance  introduced  him  into  the  mercantile 


416 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


world.  He  expected  to  receive  a  small  patrimony  when  he  should  be 
twenty-one  years  of  age.  He  brought  some  money  with  him.  A 
young  man  of  his  acquaintance  applied  to  him  for  some  funds  where- 
with to  stock  a  small  dry -goods  store.  Stewart  advanced  the  money, 
the  little  store  was  stocked,  but  his  friend  could  not  go  on  with  the 
business,  and  Stewart  concluded  to  undertake  it  himself. 

Stewart  went  to  Ireland  for  his  patrimony,  and  invested  $3000  of  it 
in  goods.  Soon  after  his  return  there  appeared  in  the  Daily  Advertiser 
(September  2,  1825)  a  modest  advertisement  announcing  that  A.  T. 
Stewart  offered  for  sale,  at  No.  283  Broadway,  "  a  general  assortment 
of  fresh  and  seasonable  dry  goods."  lie  had  rented  one  half  of  a  store 
in  a  little  wooden  building  exactly  opposite  where  he  erected  his  great 
marble  building  afterward.  He  had  a  sleeping-room  in  the  rear.  He 
moved  into  a  larger  store,  at  Xo.  2<>2  Broadway,  and  not  long  afterward 
to  No.  2.">7,  where,  by  industry,  discretion,  sagacity,  vigilance,  and 
persistence,  he  laid  the  foundation  of  his  extensive  business  and  great 
fortune.  He  soon  rose  to  the  head  of  the  dry-goods  business  of  the 
country. 

On  the  corner  of  Broadway  and  Chambers  Street  stood  quite  an 
imposing  building  known  as  Washington  Ball.  It  was  completed  in 
1812,  and  was  the  finest  structure,  in  an  architectural  point  of  view,  in 
the  city  at  that  time.  It  was  erected  under  the  auspices  of  the  Wash- 
ington Benevolent  Society,  one  of  several  political  organizations  of  that 
name  which  originated  in  Philadelphia  at  about  the  beginning  of  the 
century,  but  was  not  thoroughly  organized  until  a  dozen  years  after- 
ward. In  politics  these  societies  were  opposed  to  the  Tammany  socie- 
ties. They  disappeared  with  the  demise  of  the  Federal  party,  during 
the  administration  of  President  Monroe. 

In  L848  Mr.  Stewart,  by  great  commercial  sagacity  and  operating 
upon  a  cash  basis,  had  accumulated  a  fortune  sufficient  to  enable  him 
to  purchase  Washington  Ball,  which  had  been  used  for  many  years  as 
a  hotel.  Upon  its  site,  the  front  of  winch  extended  from  Chambers 
Street  to  Reade  Street,  he  erected  a  magnificent  marble  structure  for 
his  business,  five  stories  in  height,  on  Broadway.  That  store — the 
pioneer  of  marble,  freestone,  and  iron  stores  on  Broadway— attracted 
great  attention  at  home  and  abroad.  It  was  an  efficient  advertisement 
for  Stewart.  The  Astor  House,  grand  in  size  and  built  of  granite,  had 
been  until  then  one  of  the  architectural  wonders  of  the  city  ;  now 
Stewart's  store  was  a  prolific  topic  of  remark. 

Fourteen  years  later,  Stewart's  business  having  outgrown  his  great 
store,  he  resolved  to  anticipate  the  up-town  movement  of  population, 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840 


417 


the  unmistakable  symptoms  of  which  were  then  apparent.  He  pur- 
chased a  part  of  the  Randall  estate  (the  Sailors'  Snug  Harbor),  between 
Ninth  and  Tenth  streets  and  Broadway  and  Fourth  Avenue,  whereon 
he  built  an  extensive  iron  structure,  six  stories  in  height,  with  a  base- 
ment ami  sub-basement.  It  was  not  unlike,  in  outward  appearance, 
the  great  down-town  store,  which  was  subsequently  devoted  to  the 
wholesale  dry-goods  business.  In  the  new  retail  store  about  two  thou- 
sand persons  were  employed,  and  the  running  expenses  of  the  estab- 
lishment were  estimated  at  over  $1,000,000  a  year.  The  sales  in  the 
two  establishments  are  said  to  have  amounted  to  $203,000,000  in  three 
years,  and  his  net  income  for  several  years  was  over  $1,000,000. 

The  business  of  the  house  of  A.  T.  Stewart  &  Co.  was  literally 
'•  world-wide*'  at  the  time  of  his  death  in  1S7<!.  A  foreign  office  had 
been  established  at  Manchester,  England,  where  English  goods  were 
collected,  examined,  and  packed.  The  linn  had  a  factory  at  Belfast 
For  the  perfecting  of  Irish  linens.  At  Glasgow  they  had  a  house  for 
the  collection  and  forwarding  of  Scotch  goods.  They  also  had  a  store 
at  Paris,  where  were  gathered  goods  from  India,  France,  and  Ger- 
many. They  had  a  woollen  house  at  Berlin,  and  a  silk  warehouse  at 
Lyons.  They  also  had  mills  in  Europe  and  America  for  the  manufact- 
ure of  goods  exclusively  for  their  house,  and  their  agents  and  buyers 
were  continually  "  travelling  between  Hong  Kong  and  Paris,  Thibet 
and  Peru." 

Mr.  Stewart  had  no  taste  for  politics  as  such,  nor  aspirations  for 
official  position.  He  was  very  retiring  in  his  habits.  By  his  shrewd 
business  management  he  had  honestly  and  deservedly  acquired  the  titie 
of  a  "  merchant  prince,"  and  he  wore  the  honor  with  modesty.  He 
was  chairman  of  the  honorary  commission  sent  by  the  United  States  to 
the  Paris  Exposition.  President  Grant  nominated  him  for  a  seat  in  his 
cabinet  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  but  an  existing  and  wise  law 
barred  his  entrance  upon  the  duties  of  the  office. 

It  is  said  that  Mr.  Stewart's  private  charities,  of  which  the  world 
knew  nothing,  were  extensive  and  generous.  He  designed  to  make 
provision  for  various  public  charities.  In  March,  1876,  he  had  ad- 
dressed a  letter  to  his  wife  (they  had  no  children),  in  which  he  stated 
this  determination,  and  that  he  depended  upon  her  to  carry  out  his 
plans  in  case  he  should  fail  to  complete  them  himself. 

These  generous  plans  were  not  executed  by  those  who  had  the  man- 
agement of  Mr.  Stewart's  estate  after  his  death.  He  had  begun  the 
construction  of  a  town  on  Hempstead  Plains,  on  Long  Island,  called 
Garden  City,  designed  to  furnish  comfortable  homes  at  moderate 


418 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


prices.  lie  also  bad  in  progress  at  the  time  of  his  death  a  magnificent 
iron  building  on  Fourth  Avenue,  between  Thirty-second  and  Thirty- 
third  streets,  intended  to  furnish  comfortable  homes  to  respectable 
working-girls.  A  magnificent  cathedral  (which  also  serves  as  a  mauso- 
leum) has  been  erected  at  Garden  City,  at  a  cost  that  would  have  built 
scores  of  cottages.  And  the  Home  for  Working-Girls  was  dedicated, 
before  it  was  completed,  to  the  service  of  Mammon.  Its  ground  floor 
(as  was  originally  intended)  is  devoted  to  mercantile  pursuits,  but  the 
remainder  of  the  building,  designed  for  benevolent  uses,  was  made  a 
"  first-class"  hotel. 

The  Home  for  Working-Girls  would  have  been  the  noblest  monument 
imaginable  to  the  memory  of  the  benevolent  and  generous  merchant 
prince.  Even  the  mercantile  house  of  A.  T.  Stewart  &  Co.,  which 
formed  a  magnificent  monument  to  his  memory  as  a  business  man  and 
a  citizen,  who,  by  his  genius  and  lofty  probity,  had  for  half  a  century 
contributed  immensely  to  the  prosperity  and  good  name  of  the  city  of 
New  York,  was  allowed  to  disappear  from  the  realm  of  commercial  life 
in  the  city  almost  immediately  after  his  death.  There  is  now,  seven 
yeare  after  his  departure,  on  April  10,  1S7<;,  nothing  in  the  great 
metropolis  to  keep  alive  in  memory  a  knowledge  of  the  existence  there 
of  Alexander  T.  Stewart,  excepting  his  marble  mansion  on  Fifth 
Avenue,  the  rapidly  tiding  recollections  in  fashionable  society  and  of 
mercantile  circles  of  "  Stewart's,"  and  the  fact  that  he  left  behind  him 
a  fortune  of  $50,000,000. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


URING  this  first  decade  places  of  amusement  and  associations  for 


-L/  social  enjoyment  multiplied  and  were  modified  in  character  by 
the  prevailing  tone  of  society.  The  theatre  was  the  chief  source  of 
intellectual  amusement,  for  the  lyceum  lecturer  was  unknown.  The 
Park  Theatre  maintained  its  supremacy  as  a  dignified  and  well-con- 
ducted play-house.  It  was  the  usual  place  of  introduction  to  the 
American  public  of  the  best  foreign  actors,  dancers,  and  singers,  also 
of  the  best  native  talent.  It  was  at  that  house  that  Thomas  A. 
Cooper,*  Charles  Mathews,  the  Keans,  Charles  and  Fanny  Ivemble, 
Malibran,  Celeste,  Fanny  Elisler,  Madame  Vestris,  and  others  first 
made  their  appearance  in  this  country,  at  about  the  period  under  con- 
sideration. 

Miss  Clara  Fisher  was  a  most  remarkable  young  woman,  and  fairly 
bewitched  New  York  society  at  the  beginning  of  this  decade.  She 
was  a  plump  English  girl  of  exquisite  form,  below  the  middle  height  in 
stature,  vivacious,  running  over  with  fun,  her  cheeks  continually  dim- 
pled with  smiles.  She  was  seventeen  years  of  age  when  she  first 
arrived  in  New  York.  She  first  appeared  at  the  Park  Theatre. 
The  town  seemed  crazed  by  her  presence.  Her  name  was  given  to 
hotels,  stages,  and  race-horses.  She  continually  performed  in  the 
character  of  boys  or  striplings.    Having  her  hair  cut  short  behind, 

*  Thom.is  Apthorpe  Cooper,  though  an  old  man,  was  a  favorite  actor  during  a  portion 
of  this  decade.  He  was  born  in  England  in  177G,  and  went  upon  the  stage  when  he  was 
seventeen  years  of  age.  under  Stephen  Kenible,  at  Edinburgh.  At  the  age  of  twenty 
he  appeared  on  the  boards  in  Philadelphia  as  Hamlet.  He  was  at  one  time  the  manager 
of  a  theatre  in  New  York,  and  did  not  leave  the  stage  until  183G,  when  he  was  sixty  years 
of  age 

in  February,  18:}:),  Mr.  Cooper  took  a  benefit  at  the  Bowery,  on  which  occasion  he 
introduced  to  the  stage  his  beautiful  and  accomplished  daughter.  Priscilla  Elizabeth,  in 
the  character  of  Virginia.  She  entered  the  profession  reluctantly,  but  did  well.  In 
September,  1839,  she  married  Robert  Tyler,  son  of  (afterward)  President  John  Tyler,  and 
she  was  the  presiding  lady  at  the  White  House  while  her  father-in-law  was  President. 
Her  mother  was  a  daughter  of  Major  Fairlie  and  granddaughter  of  Robert  Yates,  of  New 
York  State.  In  1811  President  Tyler  appointed  Cooper  military  storekeeper  at  Frankford. 
Pennsylvania. 


420 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


fashionable  young  ladies  under  twenty-five  years  of  age  adopted  the 
fashion,  and  also  her  slight  lisping  speech. 

Miss  Fisher  was  a  charming  singer,  and  at  the  Park  she  introduced 
to  the  Americans  the  stirring  son^  of  "  Hurrah  for  the  Bonnets  of 
Blue."'  It  electrified  audiences.  She  was  equally  at  home  m  tragedy 
or  comedy.  On  December  6,  1834,  she  married  James  G.  Maeder,  a 
distinguished  musician,  and  the  preceptor  in  vocal  music  of  Charlotte 
Gush  man. 

Miss  Fisher  acquired  an  ample  fortune  in  her  earlier  years,  much  of 
which  was  lost  m  the  ruin  of  the  United  States  Bank.  Her  last  in- 
tended appearance  on  the  stage  was  in  1844,  for  the  benefit  of  her  sister, 
Mrs.  Vernon,  but  in  1851  she  appeared  at  Brougham's  Lyceum,  and 
assisted  occasionally  at  Ni  bio's.    Her  character  was  almost  faultless. 

Miss  Alexina  Fisher,  a  juvenile  star,  appeared  on  the  boards  of  the 
Park  in  1831,  when  she  was  ten  years  of  age  ;  her  last  appearance  in 
New  York  was  in  18G2,  when  she  supported  Edwin  Booth  at  the  Win- 
ter Garden  in  the  characters  of  Ophelia,  Desdemona,  and  Emilia. 

Miss  Julia  Wheatley,  daughter  of  the  excellent  Mrs.  (Ross)  Wheatley, 
made  her  first  appearance  as  an  actress  at  the  Park  in  1833,  when  she 
was  fourteen  veal's  of  age.  She  had  been  seen  on  its  boards  as  a  little 
dancer  when  she  was  five  years  of  age.  She  had  a  rich  and  highly 
cultivated  voice.  Miss  Wheatley  was  a  great  favorite  for  several  years. 
In  1840  she  married  Mr.  E.  II.  Miller,  and  retired  from  the  stage. 

Miss  Emma  Wheatley,  the  younger  daughter  of  Mrs.  Wheatley,  was 
also  a  charming  actress.  She  appeared  as  one  of  the  children  in  Romeo 
and  Juliet  with  Mrs.  Barnes  in  1828,  and  was  a  favorite  before  she  was 
thirteen  years  old  in  1834,  when  she  made  her  first  appearance  as  a 
regular  actress,  as  Julia  in  Sheridan  Knowles's  Ihuichhu-k,  at  a 
benefit  of  her  mother.  She  played  the  same  character  in  company 
with  the  author  while  he  was  in  this  country,  until  1837,  when  she 
married  James  Mason.  1 1  is  father,  who  was  wealthy,  gave  them  the 
means  for  supporting  a  pleasant  home,  and  she  retired  from  the  stage. 
At  the  elder  Mason's  death  his  will  gave  them  little.  It  was  contested 
for  some  time.  Meanwhile  Mrs.  Mason  resumed  her  profession.  The 
courts  finally  awarded  her  husband  an  equal  share  in  his  father's 
estate.  It  was  an  ample  fortune,  but  she  did  not  five  long  to  enjoy 
the  happiness  of  a  model  home  they  had  prepared.  She  died  in  1854, 
at  the  early  age  of  thirty -two  years. 

Mrs.  Wheatley,  the  mother  of  Miss  Julia  and  Miss  Emma  Wheatley, 
was  Miss  Ross,  a  daughter  of  Lieutenant  Ross  of  the  British  army,  and 
was  born  in  Nova  Scotia  in  1788.    She  came  to  New  York  with  her 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


42] 


mother  after  her  father's  death,  and  appeared  at  the  Park  Theatre, 
then  quite  new,  as  early  as  1805.  At  the  end  of  that  season  she  mar- 
ried Mr.  "Wheatlev.  Altered  circumstances  caused  her  to  resume  her 
profession  in  1811.  She  had  two  daughters  and  a  son,  all  of  whom 
gained  distinction  on  the  stage.  She  finally  retired  from  the  profession 
in  New  York  in  1S43,  with  the  highest  character  in  every  part  of  the 
drama  of  life. 

About  1830  Charles  J.  Kean  (as  we  have  observed),  Mrs.  Barnes, 
and  Master  Burke,  the  latter  a  precocious  Irish  youth,  were  very  pop- 
ular at  the  Park.  Burke  appeared  as  Young  Norval.  lie  was  already 
a  skilful  violinist  ami  also  an  accomplished  singer,  especially  of  humor- 
ous songs.  His  powers  of  mimicry  were  wonderful,  and  for  several 
seasons  he  was  a  most  attractive  star  at  the  Park.  Burke  became  one 
of  the  first  violinists  of  the  age,  and  assisted  Jenny  Lind,  Jullien, 
Thalberg,  and  others  in  their  concerts.  Mrs.  Barnes  took  the  part  of 
Pocahontas  in  the  play  of  Powhatan  at  the  Park,  a  drama  written  by 
Geoi'ge  "Washington  Parke  Custis,  the  adopted  son  of  "Washington. 

One  of  the  most  attractive  actresses  known  to  the  American  stage 
about  1831  or  1832  was  Miss  Emily  Mestayer,  doubtless  well  remem- 
bered by  the  older  theatre-going  readers.  She  is  described  as  "  lovely 
in  form,  complexion,  and  character."  She  was  skilled  in  vocalism,  and 
was  for  a  long  time  the  most  popular  of  the  dramatic  profession  in 
New  York.  At  an  early  age  she  married  Mr.  Houpt,  but  retained  her 
maiden  name  professionally. 

Edwin  Forrest  made  his  first  appearance  in  New  York  City  in  1826, 
at  the  age  of  twenty.  He  was  a  native  of  Philadelphia.  Having 
performed  at  Albany,  he  came  to  New  York  and  played  the  part  of 
( )thello  at  the  Bowery  Theatre.  He  very  soon  made  his  way  to  the 
position  of  a  great  American  tragedian.  John  Augustus  Stone's 
tragedy  of  Metamora  and  Dr.  Bird's  tragedy  of  T/n'  Gladiator  were 
written  for  Forrest.  He  appeared  in  the  latter  at  the  Park  in  1831. 
In  1834  distinguished  citizens  of  New  York  honored  him  with  a  public 
banquet,  on  which  occasion  he  was  presented  with  a  massive  gold 
medal  designed  by  Ingham,  having  appropriate  devices  and  inscrip- 
tions. In  1S3T  he  married  a  daughter  of  John  Sinclair,  the  English 
vocalist.  The  marriage  was  infelicitous.  He  performed  both  in 
America  and  in  England.  He  cherished  a  feud  with  Macready,  and 
his  course  in  wantonly  persecuting  that  excellent  actor  led  to  the  sad 
Astor  Place  riot  in  1849,  which  will  be  noticed  hereafter.  The  cele- 
brated Josephine  Clifton  first  appeared  on  the  stage  in  1831.  She  was 
a  native  of  New  York,  and  was  then  eighteen  years  old.    Miss  Clifton 


422  HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 

appeared  at  the  Bowery  Theatre  as  Belvidera.  Possessed  of  surpassing 
beauty  in  form  and  feature,  and  thoroughly  cultivated  for  the  purpose, 
she  was  successful  at  the  start,  and  at  once  became  a  star  of  the  first 
magnitude.  In  1835  she  appeared  at  the  Drury  Lane  Theatre,  London. 
She  brought  out  the  play  of  Bianca  Yixconii  in  1837,  which  was 
written  for  her  by  N.  P.  Willis.  Miss  Clifton  married  Mr.  Place, 
manager  of  a  New  Orleans  theatre,  in  1840,  and  died  in  that  city  the 
next  year. 

The  Ravel  Family  introduced  a  most  charming  pantomime  perform- 
ance into  New  York  in  1832,  and  the  same  year  Charles  Kemble  *  and 
his  charming  daughter  of  twenty  appeared  at  the  Park  Theatre,  first  in 
Ha  mlt  t  and  then  in  The  Merchant  of  Venice,  he  as  Shylock  and  she  as 
Portia.  They  produced  a  great  sensation  in  the  theatrical  and  fash- 
ionable world.  She  was  immediately  the  acknowledged  Queen  of 
Tragedy. 

The  cholera  raged  in  New  York  in  1832,  and  was  injurious  to  the 
business  of  the  theatres  as  well  as  other  pursuits.  The  aggregate 
receipts  of  all  the  theatres  in  the  city  of  New  York  during  the 
"  cholera  season"  was  only  $50,000. 

The  Ravels  were  favorites  for  a  long  series  of  years,  and  are  yet 
remembered  with  pleasure,  not  only  by  the  older  residents  of  New  York, 
but  by  the  visitors  to  the  city  forty  or  fifty  years  ago.  After  playing 
at  the  Park  and  Bowery  they  went  to  Niblo's,  where  they  performed 
several  successive  seasons,  making  great  profits  for  themselves  and  the 
proprietor  of  the  theatre.  They  also  performed  at  Palmo's  Opera 
House,  in  Chambers  Street.    The  troupe  was  gradually  changed,  but 

*  Charles  Kembl"  was  fifty-seven  years  of  age  when  he  first  appeared  in  New  York. 
He  became  an  actor  when  lie  was  only  a  lad.  He  married  a  distinguished  German  actress 
in  1806,  who  became  the  mother  of  Frances  Anne  and  Adelaide  Kemble.  The  former 
was  born  in  London  in  1811.  She  first  appeared  on  the  stage  at  Covent  Garden  in 
1829.  She  inherited  from  her  mother  much  of  the  extraordinary  talent  then  exhibited. 
She  was  a  lithe  and  slender  girl.  No  actress  in  America  ever  held  her  audience  under 
absolute  control  like  Fanny  Kemble.  Her  hand  was  sought,  with  offers  of  great  wealth  : 
she  gave  it  to  Pierce  Butler,  a  wealthy  slaveowner  then  living  near  Philadelphia.  Their 
dispositions  and  tastes  were  utterly  incompatible  :  their  affections  were  alienated  :  a  legal 
separation  took  place  after  she  had  borne  two  daughters,  and  she  assumed  her  maiden 
name.  The  stage  was  distasteful  to  her,  or  rather  its  .associations,  and  she  soon  began 
dramatic  readings,  to  which  she  ever  afterward  adhered  as  a  profession. 

Fanny  Kemble  wrote  a  play  called  Franris  First,  which  was  introduced  at  Covent 
Garden  before  she  was  twenty  years  of  age.  She  was  imperious  in  manner,  and  offended 
the  American  public  by  her  criticisms.  For  these  she  apologized.  A  drama  from  her 
pen — The  Duke's  Wager—  was  performed  at  the  Astor  Place  Opera  House.  Her  "  Letters" 
to  Miss  Sedgwick,  at  the  breaking  out  of  our  Civil  War,  produced  a  sensation,  as  they 
revealed  the  iniquities  of  the  slave  system  as  she  saw  it  on  her  husband's  plantation. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


423 


ever  kept  up  their  reputation.  In  1857-58  they  played  an  engagement 
of  three  hundred  nights  at  Niblo's,  giving  a  performance  four  times  a 
week.  Portions  of  the  old  troupe  won  triumphs  at  Niblo's  so  late  as 
1865. 

Tyrone  Power,  the  great  Irish  comedian,  first  appeared  in  New  York 
at  the  Park  Theatre  in  1833,  in  the  character  of  the  Irish  Tutor.  He 
was  then  thirty-six  years  of  age,  and  had  been  engaged  in  dramatic 
performances  since  1815.  He  was  unrivalled  in  his  personation  of 
Irish  character.  He  was  also  an  accomplished  writer.  His  "  Impres- 
sions of  America"  had  a  ready  and  large  sale.  Power  was  about  rive 
feet  eight  inches  in  height,  compactly  built,  with  light  hair  and  com- 
plexion, and  in  spirits  was  overflowing  with  geniality  and  good- 
humor.  He  was  also  a  fine  musician  and  dancer.  Tower  was  lost  in 
the  ill-fated  steamship  President,  which  foundered  at  sea  while  on  a 
voyage  from  New  York  to  Liverpool.    She  was  never  heard  of. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  "Wood,  eminent  singers,  appeared  at  the  Park  in  1833, 
in  opera.  Mrs.  Wood  was  an  extraordinary  vocalist.  She  sang  and 
played  the  piano  and  other  instruments  correctly  when  she  was  four 
years  of  age.  She  first  appeared  on  the  stage  in  London  at  twenty. 
Mrs.  Wood  was  a  Scotch  girl.  Won  by  a  title,  she  married  poor  Lord 
Lennox,  who  was  poor  in  purse  and  spirit,  and  they  were  soon 
divorced,  when  she  immediately  married  Joseph  "Wood,  of  the  Covent 
Garden  Theatre  troupe.    She  died  in  England  in  1863. 

The  apparent  public  interest  in  the  Italian  opera  caused  the  forma- 
tion of  a  stock  company  in  New  York  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  it 
permanently  in  the  city.  They  built  an  elegant  opera-house  on  the 
corner  of  Church  and  Leonard  streets.  The  enterprise  was  a  total  fail- 
ure. In  the  fall  of  1836  the  house  was  opened  for  dramatic  perform- 
ances, and  it  was  called  the  National  Theatre.  It  afterward  passed 
into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Ilackett,  and  at  length  into  those  of  James 
Wallack.  During  its  management  by  the  latter  the  building  was  de- 
stroyed by  fire  (September,  1839),  but  was  soon  rebuilt.  It  was  leased 
first  to  Alexander  Wilson,  and  then  to  William  E.  Burton.  During  the 
management  of  the  latter  it  was  again  (May,  1841)  consumed  by  fire. 

The  above  mentioned  New  York  Opera  Company  was  formed 
through  the  exertions  of  Si^nor  Rivafinoli,  and  the  house  was  first 
opened  to  the  public  in  November,  1833.  On  that  occasion  Signorina 
Clementine  Fanti,  a  large  and  beautiful  woman,  was  the  first  soprano. 

James  Sheridan  Knowles,  author  of  The  Hunchback,  William  TeU, 
and  other  plays,  first  appeared  on  the  stage  in  New  York  at  the  Park 
in  the  spring  of  1831.    He  had  been  performing  in  Philadelphia.  At 


424  HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 

the  close  of  the  season  he  returned  to  Europe  and  entered  the  pulpit  as 
a  Baptist  minister,  in  which  profession  he  was  very  popular. 

During  this  decade  several  famous  singers  and  dancers  appeared  in  the 
New  York  theatres.  Mademoiselle  Celeste  took  the  town  by  storm,  as  it 
were,  by  her  dancing,  when  she  appeared  in  1834.  She  had  been 
married  in  1828,  at  the  age  of  fifteen  years,  to  an  American  gentleman, 
and  became  the  mother  of  an  only  daughter.  She  afterward  made  a 
successful  professional  tour  in  Europe,  when  she  returned  to  New 
York,  and  made  a  more  successful  tour  in  the  United  States  during 
three  years,  gaining  by  her  profession  the  net  sum  of  $200,000.  She 
returned  to  England.  She  came  back  in  1838,  and  played  a  farewell 
engagement  at  the  Park  in  lS4o.  She  came  again  in  1851,  and  per- 
formed at  the  Broadway  Theatre.  She  came  again  in  1865,  and,  as 
ever,  excited  great  interest.    She  was  then  fifty-one  years  of  age. 

Mine.  Yestris,  who  was  noted  for  the  elegance  and  symmetry  of  her 
figure,  beauty  of  face,  and  as  a  most  perfect  actress  in  pantomime,  de- 
lighted New  Vork  from  I83ti  to  18:38.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Bartolozzi, 
the  eminent  engraver  ;  married  Armand  Yestris  when  she  was  sixteen 
years  of  age,  and  became  the  most  popular  dancer  of  the  time.  She  did 
not  aspire  to  the  stage,  but  at  her  husband's  request  and  for  his  benefit 
she  appeared  at  the  King's  Theatre,  in  London,  in  the  summer  of  1815. 
From  that  time  for  many  }rears  she  was  the  leading  vocalist  and  dancer 
of  the  London  stage.  In  1830  she  became  connected  with  Charles 
Mathews,  -Jr.,  professionally  and  otherwise,  and  in  the  same  j'ear,  hav- 
ing long  been  separated  from  her  husband,  she  became  legally  married 
to  Matiiews,  just  before  they  embarked  for  America,  and  bore  his  name 
while  they  were  here.  Her  American  engagement  ended  late  in  1838, 
when  they  returned  to  England,  and  she  became  the  lessee  of  a  theatre 
in  London.  She  died  there  in  1S5G,  at  the  age  of  sixty  years,  in  com- 
parative poverty,  having  squandered  her  immense  earnings  as  fast  as 
they  were  received. 

Matiiews,  the  husband  of  Madame  Yestris,  was  the  son  of  the  more 
celebrated  comedian  of  that  name.  He  revisited  New  York  in  1857, 
married  Mrs.  A.  II.  Davenport,  and  brought  her  out  at  Burton's 
Theatre  as  Mrs.  Mathews.  His  last  appearance  in  New  York  was  in 
May,  1858,  when  he  returned  to  England  with  his  new  wife. 

Miss  Charlotte  Watson,  a  beautiful  English  girl  of  seventeen 
summers,  bewitched  Kew  York  theatre-goers  by  her  marvellous  sing- 
ing. She  appeared  at  the  Park  in  1835.  She  was  of  a  celebrated 
musical  family,  and  had  recently  accompanied  the  great  violinist 
Paganini  on  a  musical  tour  in  Great  Britain  and  on  the  continent. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


425 


She  so  charmed  the  Italian  that  he  offered  her  his  hand  in  marriage. 
There  were  impediments.  He  induced  her  to  elope  from  England  and 
join  him  at  Boulogne,  with  a  view  to  their  marriage  at  that  place.  His 
intentions  were  honorable.  Her  father,  informed  of  the  affair,  went 
in  pursuit,  and  reached  Boulogne  before  her  arrival,  lie  Drought  her 
to  America.  In  February,  1837,  she  married  Thomas  Bailey,  of  New 
York  City.  Mrs.  Bailey  continued  to  appear  in  public  occasionally. 
She  made  her  last  appearance  at  the  Park  in  the  fall  of  1857  as  second 
to  Madame  Anna  Bishop.  She  had  sung  a  ballad  for  Mr.  Brough's 
complimentary  benefit  at  Niblo's  in  January,  1851. 

One  of  the  best  American  actresses,  and  one  of  the  best  of  women, 
was  Miss  Charlotte  Saunders  Cushman,  a  lineal  descendant  of  the  Rev. 
Robert  Cushman,  who  preached  the  first  sermon  in  New  England. 
She  first  appeared  on  the  stage  at  the  Bowery  Theatre  in  September, 
1835.  She  was  then  twenty  years  of  age.  Her  father,  a  Boston  mer- 
chant, had  left  her  mother  at  his  death  in  indigent  circumstances,  with 
five  children.  Charlotte  was  the  eldest.  She  had  an  excellent  voice, 
and  sang  at  a  concert  when  she  was  fifteen  years  old.  Her  fine  con- 
tralto voice  on  that  occasion  attracted  great  attention.  She  sang  at 
one  of  the  concerts  given  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wood,  who  encouraged  her 
to  cultivate  her  voice.  After  receiving  instruction  she  appeared  at  the 
T  rem  out  Theatre  as  the  Countess  in  the  Marriage  of  Figaro.  That 
was  in  1835.  She  Avas  immediately  engaged  as  a  prima  donna  for  the 
New  Orleans  theatre.  The  change  in  climate  caused  the  loss  of  the 
firmness  of  her  voice,  and  she  was  compelled  to  abandon  vocahsm  and 
become  an  actress,  in  which  profession  she  was  finally  very  successful. 

Miss  Cushman  came  north,  unsuccessfully  sought  employment  at  the 
Park,  and  accepted  an  engagement  at  the  Bowery  Theatre  with  a  hope 
of  giving  support  to  her  mother  and  family.  But  she  was  prostrated 
by  illness,  and  her  acting  was  lonsr  delayed.  She  recovered,  played  a 
few  nights,  was  again  taken  ill,  and  before  she  had  regained  her  health 
the  Bowery  Theatre  was  burned,  with  all  her  theatrical  wardrobe.  Mr. 
Ilackett,  of  the  National  Theatre,  engaged  her,  and  she  first  appeared 
there  in  1S31  in  Romeo  and  -Juliet.  That  fall  she  became  the  leading 
stock  actress  at  the  Park.  After  directing  the  "Walnut  Street  Theatre 
in  Philadelphia  for  a  while,  she  went  to  New  York  in  1S44  to  play 
with  Macready.  Success  attended  her.  She  played  at  the  Princess's 
Theatre,  London,  in  1S45,  eighty-four  nights  in  succession.  She  alter- 
nated her  residence  and  professional  duties  between  America  and  Eng- 
land for  several  years.  She  finally  left  the  stage  in  1861,  but  after- 
ward gave  dramatic  readings  on  occasion.    Miss  Cushman  was  tall  and 


426 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


commanding  in  appearance,  with  light  hair  and  complexion  and  refine- 
ment of  manner.  Miss  Cushman  died  in  her  native  city,  Boston,  on 
February  18,  187(5. 

Miss  Ellen  Tree,  a  charming  English  actress,  first  appeared  in 
America  at  the  Park  at  the  close  of  1836.  She  followed  and  rivalled 
Fanny  Kemble  in  popularity.  Her  acting  always  attracted  the  "  cream 
of  society."  The  bloom  of  youth  had  departed  from  her  cheek  when 
she  came  to  New  York,  but  being  a  most  consummate  actor  and 
charming  woman,  her  slight  personal  defects  were  unnoticed.  At  the 
end  of  two  years  Miss  Tree  returned  to  England,  and  in  1842  she  mar- 
ried Charles  Kean. 

In  1836  Mademoiselle  Augusta  appeared  at  the  Park  as  a  famous 
ballet-dancer,  and  won  immense  popularity.  Lovely  in  form  and 
feature,  and  endowed  with  maidenly  reserve  of  manner,  she  attracted 
crowds  nightly,  and  won  every  heart.  She  was  called,  professionally, 
mademoiselle,  but  she  was  the  wife  of  a  venerable  French  nobleman, 
the  Count  Fitz-James,  and  said  to  have  been  a  scion  of  the  royal  house 
of  Stuart,  lie  died  in  1851.  Augusta's  last  appearance  on  the  stage 
was  at  the  Metropolitan  Theatre  in  New  York  m  1855,  when  she  be- 
came a  teacher  of  dancing  in  that  city. 

In  tin?  spring  of  1  *:>>».»  two  famous  dancers,  Monsieur  and  Madame 
Taglioni,  made  their  first  appearance  at  the  Park  in  the  ballet  of 
La  Sylphide.  They  were  brilliant  performers.  Madame  Taglioni  was 
not  pretty  in  feature,  but  was  vivacious  and  faultless  in  form  and 
motion.  The  popularity  of  the  Park  was  then  waning,  and  the  Tagli- 
onis,  after  performing  one  season,  returned  to  Europe. 

We  have  observed  that  the  popularity  of  the  Park  was  waning.  It 
was  too  severely  strict  in  its  adherence  to  the  pure  drama  and  the 
highest  performances  in  the  histrionic  art.  Public  taste  about  1837 
and  1838  was  evidently  changing.  The  Bowery  Theatre  had  intro- 
duced "  sensational  "  acting,  and  was  attracting  the  multitude  of 
theatre-goers.  A  vulgar  taste  was  evidently  usurping  the  seat  of 
refined  taste.  The  pure  drama  no  longer  satisfied  the  cravings  of  the 
vitiated  appetite  newly  created,  and  the  better  actors  at  the  Park 
played  to  comparatively  empty  seats. 

Clara  Fisher  (then  Mrs.  Maeder),  who  a  short  time  before  com- 
manded overflowing  houses  at  the  Pack,  was  now  struggling  in  vain  to 
attract  paying  audiences  at  the  little  Olympic  and  Vauxhall;  Cooper 
was  suing  for  an  engagement  ;  Junius  Brutus  Booth  was  playing  at 
the  Franklin  ;  Mrs.  Duff  and  Mrs.  Brown  were  unappreciated  at  the 
Richmond   Hill  ;  and  Forrest,  James  Wallack,  and  Placide  were 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1840. 


427 


starring  at  the  Chatham,  afterward  known  as  Purely 's  National 
Theatre. 

"  What  is  the  cause  of  this  indifference  to  the  legitimate  drama  ?" 
asked  Clark,  of  the  Knickerbocker  Magazme.  "What  do  the  public 
want  ?  Novelty,  excitement,  dash,  show,  parade.  Spectacle  has  be- 
come the  order  of  the  day.  Impossible  circumstances  drawn  up  in  big, 
windy  words,  glowing  scenery,  pompous  processions,  discordant  noises, 
roaring  lions,  and  men  and  women  who  can  outroar  them — these,  with 
novelty  for  the  scene-shifter,  are  the  aliment  for  which  the  public  appe- 
tite is  set." 

The  last  and  most  famous  of  the  dancers  who  visited  America  at 
this  period  was  Mademoiselle  Fanny  Elssler,  a  German  woman,  who 
iirst  appeared  in  public  at  the  Park  Theatre  in  New  York  in  May, 
1841.  She  came  with  a  high  professional  name,  for  she  had  charmed 
crowds  of  delighted  people  at  the  theatres  in  Berlin,  Vienna,  Paris,  and 
London.  She  was  tall,  and  of  exquisite  womanly  proportions.  Her 
complexion  was  of  delicate  whiteness,  which  contrasted  finely  with  her 
rich,  glossy,  and  profuse  chestnut  hair.  She  is  described  as  being 
exceedingly  fascinating  in  person  and  manner.  Mademoiselle  Elssler 
won  immense  popularity  at  once  by  her  execution  of  the  dainty  Pas 
Cracovicnne. 

Mademoiselle  Elssler  was  a  native  of  Vienna,  and  was  about  thirty 
years  of  age  when  she  came  to  New  York.  She  and  her  sister  Theresa 
had  been  educated  for  the  ballet  at  Naples,  and  they  first  appeared  on 
the  stage  at  Berlin  in  1S30.  Fanny  left  the  stage  in  1851.  Theresa 
married  Prince  Adalbert  of  Prussia,  and  was  ennobled  by  the  king. 

There  were  several  meritorious  actors  and  stage  managers  who  first 
appeared  at  the  New  York  theatres  during  this  decade,  and  rose  to 
eminence  in  their  profession.  Among  the  most  notable  of  these  were 
Hackett,*  Danforth  Marble, f  and  Hill,  in  the  personification  of  the 

*  Mr.  Hackett,  whose  wife  was  an  actress,  had  been  a  merchant,  lmt  failing  in  business 
took  to  the  stage  as  a  profession.  He  first  appeared  on  the  hoards  in  1820  as  an  imper- 
sonator of  "  Yankee  character"  and  exponent  of  "  Yankee  humor."  In  this  line  he  was 
for  years  unrivalled,  was  very  popular,  amassed  a  fortune,  and  paid  every  mercantile 
creditor  his  just  dues.    In  private  life  Hackett  was  much  esteemed. 

■f  Danforth  Marble — "  Dan  Marble,"  as  he  was  familiarly  termed — was  another  success- 
ful impersonator  of  character.  He  was  a  native  of  Danbnry,  Connecticut,  learned  the 
trade  of  a  silversmith  in  New  York,  became  a  member  of  a  Thespian  association,  was 
introduced  behind  the  scenes  at  the  Chatham  Theatre,  and  resolved  to  become  an  actor. 
In  April,  1831,  he  paid  the  manager  of  the  Richmond  Hill  Tlieatre  $20  for  the  privilege 
of  performing  the  part  of  Robin  Roughhead.  Again  he  paid  him  $10  for  a  similar  privilege. 
Then  he  took  a  position  among  the  lowest  grade  of  actors,  performing  chiefly  in 
"  Yankee"  and  "  Kentucky"  characters.    He  made  a  decided  "  hit"  in  the  play  of  Sam 


428 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


traditional  "  Yankee"  and  of  other  nationalities.  Mr.  Hill  *  was  known 
as  "  Yankee  Hill."  There  were  also  Hambhn.f  Mitchell,  Burton,  and 
Flvnn — "  Poor  Tom  Flvnn,"  as  he  was  spoken  of  in  his  later  years. 

Edward  Simpson  was,  of  course,  chief  among  managers  at  that 
period,  and  was  a  veteran  at  the  beginning  of  this  decade,  for  he  and 
Stephen  Price  had  been  lessees  of  the  Park  many  years. 

William  Niblo,  whose  place  of  amusement  was  very  popular  for  many 
years,  even  down  to  the  beginning  of  the  present  decade  (1870-80), 
began  business  life  as  the  keeper  of  the  famous  Bank  Coffee-House, 
corner  of  Pine  and  "William  streets,  which  he  opened  in  1814.  He  had 
married  the  excellent  daughter  of  Daniel  King,  a  famous  innkeeper, 
first  in  Wall  Street,  and  then  on  the  site  of  "  Niblo's  Garden,"  near 
Spring  Street.  There  King  died  about  lS^S,  and  in  his  house  Niblo 
opened  a  branch  of  his  coffee-house  m  1829.  To  his  surprise  and  de- 
light, he  soon  found  it  filled  with  the  families  of  eminent  merchants, 
who  preferred  boarding  for  a  while  to  housekeeping.  The  then  great 
merchant,  Archibald  Gracie,  and  his  family  were  boarders  within  a 
week  after  it  was  opened.  The  omnibuses,  just  introduced,  made  a 
residence  that  distance  from  business  quite  feasible.  Niblo's  w  as  the 
only  building  on  the  block  where  the  Metropolitan  Hotel  now  stands, 
and  there  were  no  houses  on  Broadway  opposite. 

At  the  suggestion  of  friends  Niblo  opened  a  *'  garden"  for  the  pleas- 
ure of  the  higher  class  of  citizens,  where  ice-cream,  cake,  lemonade, 
and  other  refreshments  were  served  in  the  open  air.    It  was  very  suc- 

/'<//<•//,  and  became  immensely  popular  in  the  West  and  Sonth-West.  Within  seven  years 
from  tho  time  he  paid  $-20  for  the  privilege  of  trying  his  powers,  he  was  one  of  the  most 
attractive  star  actors  at  the  Park.  He  went  to  London  in  1844,  where  he  was  very  popu- 
lar in  a  play  entitled  The  Vermont  Wiml-Deuln\  and  his  welcome  on  his  return  was  an 
ovation.  His  last  performance  was  at  St.  Louis  in  May,  184'.).  A  few  days  afterward  he 
died  there  of  Asiatic  cholera.  In  1830  Marble  married  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Warren,  of 
Philadelphia,  a  celebrated  comedian. 

*  "  Yankee  Hill  "  (George  H. )  was  a  native  of  Boston.  He  was  a  jeweller's  apprentice, 
working  near-the  theatre.  He  first  recited  "  Yankee  stories"  and  sang  "  Yankee  songs" 
at  the  Warren  Street  Theatre  in  that  city.  He  was  always  a  favorite  at  the  Park,  and 
was  very  popular  at  the  Adelphi,  in  London,  in  1«3K.  Hill  played  with  great  success  at 
other  theatres  in  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States.  He  died  at  Saratoga  Springs,  in 
September,  1849. 

•J-  Thomas  S.  Hamblin  was  an  Englishman,  and  made  his  first  appearance  on  an 
American  stage  as  Hamlet,  when  he  was  about  twenty  four  years  of  age.  He  had  first 
appeared  as  a  ballet-dancer  at  the  Adelphi,  in  London,  with  a  salary  of  $1.50  a  week. 
In  1830  he  became  lessee  of  the  Bowery  Theatre  with  Hackett.  As  an  actor  he  was  rather 
a  failure,  but  was  an  energetic  manager.  In  that  capacity  he  served  until  his  death, 
from  brain  fever,  in  1853.  During  his  administration  ot  the  Bowery,  that  theatre  was 
twice  burned,  the  first  time  in  183C,  and  the  second  time  in  1845. 


FIRST  DECADE,  1830-1810 


cessful  from  the  beginning.  Vauxhall  Garden,  that  extended  from  the 
Bowery  nearly  to  Broadway  above  Fourth  Street,  was  then  too  far  up 
town.  In  a  short  time  Niblo  altered  an  old  building  on  the  premises 
into  an  open-air  theatre  for  summer  dramatic  and  musical  performances, 
and  it  became  very  famous,  and  remained  so  until  our  day.  The  thea- 
tre really  forms  a  part  of  the  Metropolitan  Hotel,  and  ;i  small  court- 
yard with  a  fountain  is  still  called  a  garden.  Upon  this  the  superb 
lobbies  of  the  theatre  open. 

This  theatre  was  the  scene  of  the  Black  Crook,  the  first  grand  ballet 
spectacle  ever  seen  in  this  country.  It  Avas  presented  in  1865,  and  ran 
for  several  years.  It  was  followed  by  similar  spectacles.  The  interior 
of  the  theatre  was  burned  in  1872,  but  was  soon  restored.  Its  audito- 
rium will  seat  nearly  two  thousand  persons.  It  is  still  known  as  Niblo's 
Garden  Theatre.  The  founder  lived  until  he  was  nearly  eighty  years 
of  age,  and  his  face  and  complexion  at  seventy-five  were  as  fair  as  that 
of  a  middle-aged  woman. 

William  Mitchell  was  an  Englishman,  and  first  appeared  at  the  Na- 
tional Theatre  in  1836.  IleAvas  not  a  marked  favorite  until  he  opened 
the  Olympic,  on  Broadway,  late  in  1839,  with  amusing  travesties  anil 
burlesques,  which  became  very  popular.  He  hit  the  humor  of  the 
time.  Burton  finally  rivalled  him,  and  Mitchell  retired  in  1850  with  a 
competence,  but  finally  became  poor.  While  arrangements  were  in 
progress  to  give  him  a  benefit,  he  died,  May  12,  1856. 

We  have  observed  that  William  E.  Burton  rivalled  Mitchell  as  an 
actor  and  manager.  He,  too,  was  an  Englishman,  was  thoroughly 
educated,  and  was  designed  by  his  father,  the  eminent  scholar  and 
author  of  tl  Biblical  Researches, ' '  for  one  of  the  liberal  professions.  On 
the  death  of  his  father  he  became  connected  with  the  newspaper  press, 
and  an  intimacy  with  actors  led  him  to  adopt  the  profession  of  a  player. 
He  played  in  the  provinces  for  seven  years  in  an  extensive  range  of 
characters,  and  made  his  first  appearance  on  the  London  stage  in  1831, 
where  he  was  very  successful.  He  came  to  America  in  1834,  and  first 
appeared  at  the  Arch  Street  Theatre  in  Philadelphia,  principally  in 
comedy.  He  played  his  first  engagement  in  New  York  as  a  star  at 
the  National  Theatre  in  1830.  He  was  afterward  manager  of  theatres 
in  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore,  and  finally  of  the  National  Theatre  in 
New  York  in  April,  18-11.  It  was  burned  in  May.  In  1848  he  opened 
Burton's  Theatre,  in  Pahno's  Opera  House,  in  Chambers  Street. 
There  he  was  very  successful,  drawing  crowded  houses  by  his  acting  in 
comedies.  His  impersonations  of  some  of  Dickens's  characters,  and 
especially  Toodles,  were  constant  delights  to  theatre-goers,  and  for  years 


430 


HISTORY  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


Burton's  Theatre  was  the  favorite  resort  of  the  most  intelligent  class  of 
pleasure-seekers,  where  fashionable  people  were  not  trammelled  by 
etiquette  as  at  the  stately  Park. 

Commerce  needed  Chambers  Street,  and  with  a  hope  of  conquering 
his  rivals,  Wallack  and  Laura  Keene,  Burton  opened  Burton's  New 
Theatre  in  1850,  far  up  Broadway,  lie  was  unsuccessful,  and  aban- 
doned the  field.  Burton  was  an  unrivalled  comedian,  and  an  accom- 
plished writer.    lie  died  in  New  York  February  9,  1800. 

"  Poor  Tom  Flynn"  made  his  first  appearance  on  the  stage  at  the 
Chatham  Theatre.  He  was  stage  manager  of  the  Bowery  in  1833-34, 
and  afterward  of  the  Richmond  II ill  Theatre.  In  1830  he  opened  the 
National  Theatre,  where  he  brought  out  William  Mitchell.  With 
others  he  built  the  New  Chatham  Theatre,  first  opened  in  1830.  He 
had  now  become  intemperate  :  the  "  social  glass"  had  ruined  linn.  He 
made  an  attempt  at  reform,  and  became  a  zealous  public  advocate  of 
the  temperance  cause.  This  was  a  hopeful  pause  in  his  life  career.  It 
was  only  a  pause:  he  soon  relapsed,  and  he  died,  in  poverty  and  shame, 
of  cholera  in  1S40.  Flynn  married  Miss  Matilda  Twibell,  the  "  belle  of 
the  stage,"  in  1828. 


